 
**The Adventures of Gannon Skyborn**

Frank S. Wacholtz

Copyright 2010 by Frank S. Wacholtz

Smashwords Edition

# The Isle of Morbius

### The Adventures of Gannon Skyborn, Volume I

" _Poisoned, Morbian trees!"_ \--- A common Choaradarian sailor's curse.

There was probably no worse place in all Choaradar to be stranded than about two hundred strides to the west of where he stood just that moment. That would put the Rogue Hunter just outside the thick, stone wall of the thrice cursed city of Necrosci and, if the locals were to be believed, dead in about a tenth.

"Tie her up tight, Mr. Skyborn," the boson commanded as the Rogue Hunter turned temporary deck hand lashed what was left of the once great ship to its mooring. "We don't want to get stranded here should it drift back out to sea." Mr. Skyborn, though having a low opinion of the boson, agreed whole-heartedly with that statement.

Mr. Skyborn worked quickly and soon had the ship secured to the thin stone pier as well as any sailor that ever lived. Thiel had already sunk beneath the waves hours ago leaving Athiel free to shine down from the North. Despite Thiel's departure the truenight was still warm and rather humid as would be expected in the tropical Southern Seas.

Sweat still trickled down Mr. Skyborn's back as he finally made his way down the pier to find a place to sleep for the truenight. The boson had only four men standing watch at the end of the pier, rather noticeably not on the ship. The boson might have been a cruel and occasionally stupid man, but he did at least value the lives of his crew. There was no telling how much longer the ship would pretend to stay afloat.

It took Mr. Skyborn only a little while before he realized that was something odd about the city of Necrosci. There were no trees in it, anywhere. "City "was also a rather strong term for the settlement. "Settlement with thwarted aspirations" would be more appropriate. The streets were paved with large, flat, and whitish stones carved out of the cliffs of Tira and shipped across the strait. Most buildings were made of the same material, but a few of the older buildings were of the local volcanic black rock. The one thing they all had in common was not a single splinter of wood could be seen anywhere. Even the grass was cut low to the ground in the few places it was suffered to grow.

Mr. Skyborn walked along till he came to the inn closest to the city's single, slender pier. No shingle hung over the door as one might normally expect, rather the words "Dead Man's Rest" were painted in plain letters over the arched doorway. Mr. Skyborn pushed back the faded blanket and stepped inside to the warm common room.

"Good evening to ya, my good sir," The thin innkeeper called from the lines of stone tables in the center of the room. "I'll be with ya as soon as I can." The innkeeper grabbed a few more empty mugs from the empty, white stone tables and hurried back to the off-color, marble slab that functioned as a welcome desk. "I'm afraid we quit serving dinner almost half a tenth ago. If ya like, I might be able to scrounge up some bread and pure water?"

"No thanks," Mr. Skyborn replied wearily. "All I really want right now is a soft place to lie down."

"Now, ya don't really want to kill yourself," the innkeeper replied, "Life can't be that bad."

Mr. Skyborn cocked his head ever so slightly and said, "What I mean, is that I would like a bed to sleep in."

"I'm sorry for misunderstanding ya, good sir," the innkeeper replied with a wide smile. "It's just that lying down on soft ground 'round here is considered one of the fastest ways to wake up dead... or in the horrid process of dying if ya catch my meaning. I can get ya a room on the first floor for twelve coppers. The second floor would be sixteen. Both come with breakfast."

"Why is it more for the second floor?"

"Don't ya listen to the stories about this here isle?"

"Not really."

"Ya might want to pay better attention," the innkeeper replied, "Most are true, and they might save your life. So which will it be?"

"The first floor will be fine," replied the exhausted sailor unwilling to expend the effort to climb stairs.

"Don't ya worry, good Tanthris," the innkeeper replied with a wink. "My floors are all made of a half stride of solid stone. Ya can sleep easy."

_______

The next firstlight Mr. Skyborn crawled out from under the mercifully thin blanket and wiped the sleep out his light purple eyes. He ran his thin hand through his naturally rich, blue, and rather short hair and lifted it into what was considered a rather fashionable spiky appearance. Life as an intern was not all the brochure promised.

Mr. Skyborn shook his head once to clear his thoughts and then made his way down the short hallway to the washroom. He found water in a tall pitcher with a thin steel rod sticking partway out the top of it. The sign above it was written in the curly southern script encouraging the washer not to use more than necessary. Yet another local custom to get used to.

The Tanthris washed his face quickly and sat down in the common room at a stone table beside his mentor, Jared, "Good firstlight to you, Mentor."

"And you as well, Gannon," his mentor replied with his usual smile. "What amazing fortune we were able to land here. Is it not, my apprentice." There was just enough gleam in his mentor's eye that the young Tanthris could not decide how serious he was being. With his mentor it was simply impossible to know. "Cheer up," his mentor continued, "This is an unexpected opportunity for you to learn something new about the world."

"That's what you said about the storm, Mentor," Gannon replied. "Look how that turned out."

"You see," replied the smiling mentor, "One excellent opportunity often leads to another."

"Of course, Mentor," Gannon answered quietly as he watched the other members of the crew stagger in. He even managed to avoid rolling his eyes.

_______

A tenth of a cycle later, Gannon Skyborn found himself standing on top of the massive, thick wall that bordered Necrosci on three sides. "That tree would make a perfect mast," the boson commented and pointed to a large straight hardwood tree that stood almost half again over the other trees. It was perhaps a highstride and a half away from the walls.

The ship's captain used his glass to view it more carefully for perhaps another minute and finally responded, "She'll do just fine. It's a wonder no one has got to her before us. Boson, get the crew together with the carpenter's gear and meet me at the west gate in half a tenth."

"Yes, Sir!" the boson responded enthusiastically before barking orders down to the crew waiting below.

"The captain does have an interesting point," Jared spoke softly to his apprentice.

"Yes, Mentor," Gannon replied after thinking about it for a moment. "It does not make sense that such a perfect specimen should be found so closely to the wall. Considering how stormy the seas can be in these parts, surely, another captain would have cut it down years ago."

"My thoughts exactly," Jared replied. "I believe there is something yet to be discovered."

They hurried down to the thick steel gate which was still oddly closed even though it was quite some time since Thiel had risen. Two local soldiers stood lazily on the ramparts while the captain of the watch snoozed on a stone bench in the shade of the arch.

"Not exactly expecting an attack, are they?" Jared commented to his pupil.

"We are on _this_ isle," Gannon replied sensibly. "I don't think an army would be expected to come bursting out of this forest. Is there even another settlement anywhere on the isle?"

"None that we have records of," Jared replied easily after the slightest pause for thought. "It took them a few tries just to get this city built if I remember my history correctly. Actually, now that I think about it, there have been some rather persistent rumors concerning a pirate's dog hole somewhere on the southern side. I'm quite sure it is purely speculation." Gannon gave his mentor a second glance and tried to pry the truth from his eyes. It was hopeless.

The two stood together commenting on the history of the isle for perhaps another quarter of a tenth before the crew showed up with axes, saws, and other various blades. The jangling racket woke up the snoozing captain of the watch, and he wasn't particularly happy about it. "What's all this about?" he asked groggily.

"We're going out to cut us a new mast," the boson replied as if the answer was obvious.

"Oh really," the captain of the watch replied. "Let me guess, you're going out to cut down that tall hardwood tree about a highstride and change to the west of the city," It wasn't even a question.

"Well, yes," the boson replied somewhat confused.

"I'm afraid I can't let your party out the gate," replied the guard.

"Since when does a city not let people out?" the boson demanded.

"Since the tree ya want to cut down is much more likely to beat ya to it," the guard replied rather smugly. "Ya aren't the first crew to think about cutting the old pole down. Sailor's Rest has been rooted there a long time despite our best efforts. Lost a friend of mine last time we tried."

"We're not like those other crews," the boson affirmed confidently.

"That's right," the guard calmly replied. "You're still alive. I'm afraid I can't let ya out if ya intend to try and cut down Sailor's Rest. I'm paid to keep fools like ya alive. Ya won't get out the gate unless ya can present me with a better plan. Oh, and a word of advice, ya won't find any tree ya can safely make a mast of within a day's journey. I suggest ya patch your ship and head back to Tira."

"That would take weeks!" exclaimed the boson.

"Yes, but ya would be alive," the guard replied before lying back down to sleep.

The ship's captain made his way back up to the top of the wall with his boson in tow. Jared and Gannon followed as well. "Any ideas, Jared?" The captain asked.

"Just one, Sir," the mentor replied. "Cut down a few trees near the gate and patch the holes in the ship. We can take the best of the lot and make a short mast out of it to get us back to Azekah."

"That would put us weeks behind," the boson objected. "Things can't really be as bad as that lazy guard suggests."

The captain pondered this a moment and finally answered, "Here's what we'll do..."

_______

Twenty minutes later the guardsmen in the gate tower were opening the gate just wide enough for the crew to make their way out of the city. Once they were all out, the gates shut quickly behind them with a loud clang and the guard at the top of the tower called in a loud voice, "Twenty –two souls outside the gate."

"How comforting," Jared remarked on the very edge of sarcasm. "Lead on, Sir."

The captain led them perhaps thirty strides to where the woods began and set the men to work cutting down a few of the thicker Morbian oaks. The more populous, papery, birch-like trees just weren't thick enough around anywhere to be of any use. That was the first of many less than educated decisions made over the next several minutes.

"Boson," the captain called, "Take our Rouge Hunters and two other men, and see if you can't find a tree straight and tall enough for a make-shift mast. Come and get us once you find it. I can handle the crew back here."

"Yes, Sir," the boson replied with a nod of his head. "You and you," he pointed out two sailors, "You're coming with us."

The five of them began working their way slowly south keeping the river to their right. It was just as well they weren't going out after that tall tree. The brackish river would have been most unpleasant to cross. As it was, even the ground they walked across was disconcertingly soft and mossy, giving gently with each step.

The trees, now a with light brown trunks and large, ribbed broad leaves, sported enormous yellow flowers with deep reddish insides and four antennae like growths sprouting from the center. The locals had named them "Fire-dusters". The air itself seemed to be alive with dust motes so thick they gave the impression of walking through a bright golden fog.

It wasn't long before the boson and the two humans began having trouble keeping their eyes open. "I'm feeling absolutely exhausted," the boson announced sleepily, "Why don't we just lie down here for a moment and take a short nap."

"I think the boson is losing his mind in this heat," Gannon whispered to his mentor. Then, as an afterthought, "and this haze is making me itchy."

Jared wiped a bit of sweat from his brow even as the first of the sailors dropped to his knees and then curled up on the ground. It was only a moment before Jared was at his side shaking him, "Wake up, you moron!"

The man stirred ever so slightly in response but other-wise did nothing. "Time to go!" Jared ordered even as the boson lay down on the soft forest floor. "Grab the boson!" Jared ordered as he stooped down to pick the sleeping sailor off the ground. The largest sailor was still standing and moved slowly behind the two rogue hunters leaning gently on Gannon for support in the soft golden light.

Then, things went from bad to worse. The flowers all closed with a sudden poof, filling the air with yet more of the heady, golden powder. Moments later, thick roots began climbing from their lairs beneath the ground.

Gannon draped the boson's arm over his shoulder and pulled him along with unusual, adrenaline fueled strength even as the roots began their slow-motion grasping at his feet. _Head up, eyes forward_ , Gannon reminded himself as he nearly rolled his ankle on an emerging root. He did his best to keep the boson's feet moving, but it was amazing how such slow moving roots could nearly grasp his burden so many times.

Somehow, the other large crewman was still on his feet struggling along with his hand still lightly on Gannon's shoulder. He looked a little more alert, now. Gannon could sense a clearing just ahead through the thinning golden fog. "We're almost there!" he shouted encouragingly to the crewman. Then, a moment later, "Where's Jared?"

"Don't know," the crewman replied with great effort. "I've just been trying to keep up with you."

Gannon very nearly put the boson on the crewman's shoulder's and went back to look for his mentor, but common sense got the better of him. He cursed the trees around him and went back to putting one foot in front of the other making for the clearing.

Perhaps a minute later he stepped into the unusually wide clearing where the sea breeze seemed to be keeping the golden haze at bay. It took him a little bit longer to notice the odd tracks and occasional, water-filled holes scattered about the ground. He laid the boson down gently near the center, and took a seat to catch his breath. The large crewman stumbled down beside him as well.

"I don't think we should stay here long," the crewman commented nervously as he looked around at the pockmarked soil.

"Quiet," Gannon replied, "let me concentrate." The Tanthris closed his eyes and reached out with his sixth sense back the way they had come searching for the shadow of his mentor or the other crewman. "I can't feel them," he finally admitted. "They must have gone another direction."

"What should we do, Sir?" the crewman finally asked when they both had their breath.

"We need to get back to the gate before darkening," Gannon Skyborn replied.

"Which way is that?"

"That way," Gannon pointed almost without hesitation.

"How do you Tanthris always do that?"

"Same way I found this clearing," Gannon replied. "I just feel for north and south. I know the city is to the north, so we just head back that way."

"Lead on, Sir," the crewman stated hopefully as he helped get the boson lifted off the ground.

_______

About two tenths later they reached the great wall around Necrosci and spoke with a watchman who guided them back to the gate. Another ten minutes later they were calling for the gate to be opened so they could get inside. The boson was still unconscious and as limp as a wet noodle when they dragged him in front of the captain of the watch shortly before sunset.

"Can you help him?" Gannon asked as the guard looked over the boson and listened for his breath.

"That depends," the guard replied, "What happened to him?" Gannon gave him a quick rundown of their adventure in the forest that was only interrupted a few times with what seemed rather odd questions. "He's going to be alright," the guard pronounced at last. "Just put him in bed for another day or two, and he'll wake up feeling extremely refreshed... after he empties the contents of his stomach. Fire-dusters are perhaps the most pleasant way ya could die on this isle," he finished with a smile. "So where are the others? And why in... Morbius did ya split up?"

"They were cutting near the gate..."

"For about a tenth," the guard replied. "Then they went deeper into the woods."

"Did my mentor, the other Tanthris, come back?"

"Just ya three."

"Altair," Gannon addressed the large crewman having learned his name on the trip back, "Get the boson back to the inn. I'm going to help keep watch on the wall."

_______

As Thiel went down, the land darkened, and Gannon was soon able to make out a fire perhaps a half highstride into the woods. "The fools," commented the watchman beside him. "That will attract every stalker within a highstride. See, the forest is already coming alive."

"I would think that trees hate fire," the apprentice thought out loud.

"Most strangers do," the watchman replied. "It's something about the air or the heat that draws them. Dr. Trall gave us all a lecture on it once."

"I have to get out there and warn them," Gannon insisted as he started moving for the stairs.

"Can't let ya do that," the guard replied. "It would be your blood on my hands if I did. Nothing to do but watch from here and be ready to open the gate."

"But they'll die!"

"And so will ya if I let ya out," the guard replied firmly.

Gannon Skyborn clenched and unclenched his fists in pure frustration. He could almost see the men in the woods. The reddish firelight danced among the trees that seemed to close together even as he watched. It wasn't much longer till the shouting started and the first scream.

Gannon watched in horror as the firelight dimmed from the close press of the trees. More shouting, another scream, and the distinct sounds of steel on wood followed by two loud crashes and snapping wood.

"That sounds like a positive," the guard commented. "The stalkers will eat their own if they fall. Might even buy a little time."

The sounds of fighting continued for perhaps another few minutes before the first group of men broke through the circle of trees and out into the open. Gannon could just make out the look of sheer terror etched across their faces. The four men took one quick look back and began sprinting for the gates. Five of the papery stalker trees detached from the circle and began a purposeful pursuit.

"Can we open the gate, now?" Gannon questioned urgently.

"Not till they are right up to the gate," the guard answered. "Can't be letting no tree in accidentally."

The four men covered the half high stride to the gate in good time, but the pursuing trees weren't far behind them. The guards opened the gate just wide enough for the men to slide inside. The four of them exited the shadow of the gate and flopped down like dead men out of complete exhaustion. Gannon wasn't sure if they would be capable of moving anytime soon.

Not even ten seconds later, the captain broke free of the main circle of trees with a large crash. A larger group of desperate looking men were with him. They looked around briefly and identified the walls of Necrosci glowing under the bluish-silver light of Athiel. Moments later they began moving purposely as a group toward the city, not running, but quickly none-the-less. The trees behind them began stalking after them at almost the same speed.

"Get your wind back," the captain called in a loud voice and pointed toward the five trees still waiting by the gate, "and get your axes ready. We're not out of the woods yet!"

The group advanced steadily toward the stalkers waiting motionlessly in front of the iron gate. "Axes ready!" called the captain fiercely. Most of the men adjusted their grips on their axes. A few of the lagging men just kept moving with three wounded men being helped along between them. Not even twenty strides behind them, the rest of the stalkers kept pace. "Get the three on the left. Go for the trunks!" the captain urged before jumping at the first with a mighty swing that went nearly half-way through. Its roots curled upward in pain. The others followed his example and in less than five seconds had felled two of the trees.

"Ya need to get the trees away from the gate!" called the guard. "We aren't allowed to open it other-wise." Even as he said this, one of the guards drew a flaming arrow and launched it into the crown of a tree perhaps thirty strides farther down the wall. It struck true and the flames began catching. Two more arrows followed in the same direction accomplishing the same on two more trees. More hacking brought down a third tree in the immediate vicinity, but the trees from the circle were almost upon them.

"Get ready to drop the rope ladder," the captain of the watch called even as the guard who had fired the arrows was hauling it along the wall in the opposite direction toward two hooks sticking out of the walkway for just that purpose. "Get the wounded this way!" the captain of the watch called as he motioned towards the rope ladder. "I'm gonna need ya help," he then stated with a nod to Gannon.

Gannon hurried over to where the ladder was being secured to the hooks. "We can't let it go until they're ready for it, or a tree might damage it," the guard explained as they stood up to look over the wall. Gannon noted that it sloped slightly inward from his vantage point. "Once they got a good hold we'll pull 'em up one at a time," the guard explained further. "Ready?" Gannon nodded as the first of the wounded appeared beneath them. "Now!"

The ladder unfurled as it fell stopping perhaps a half a stride off the ground. The first wounded man wrapped his leg and good arm around the rungs. Gannon and the two guards started pulling with all their might. It took the three of them perhaps a whole minute to move the man to the top, and they nearly collapsed with exhaustion after pulling him over the lip.

Gannon gathered the energy to stand again and looked back over the wall. Some of the approaching trees had been drawn off by the flames but most were still moving towards the fight before the gate. "Ya need to draw them away from the gate!" the third guard called from the gate house.

The captain acknowledged the instructions with a nod then motioned for his men to follow him. They worked their way along the wall as far as they dared. The trees followed and the guards moved back toward the gate urging the other wounded that way.

The gate creaked open and the wounded men and their guardians stumbled inside. The guard had to close it right after them when a tree took notice of the creaking, iron portal. The main party was now working their way back around across the open ground. Perhaps the largest concern was that the other stalkers were losing their interest in those three burning trees.

"We need to get rid of that tree in front of the gate," the captain of the watch thought aloud. "Even if they can outpace the stalkers, we can't open the gate with it sitting right there."

"Set fire to it," Gannon suggested desperately looking for a way to save the tiring crew.

"Can't do that," the guard answered. "It would just attract more trees."

"Give me two sharp hatchets," Gannon said softly. "I have an idea." Seconds later he leapt over the lip of the wall and into the crown of the tree that was left. It was a bit of a drop, but the thin branches snapped even as they broke his fall. Gannon finally stopped at the second to last branch feeling like he had been run over a couple times by a cart.

Gannon groaned and then got to work giving the tree a bit of a haircut. The roots tried to reach up and pull him from his perch, but he was too high. Every thin branch was soon chopped away and tossed to the ground. Gannon began working his idea slowly cutting bigger and bigger branches. As each branch was cut away the tree seemed a little slower and less responsive. As he cut the last major branch above the trunk the tree became still except for the gentle probing of its roots about the ground.

At last, Gannon jumped to the ground and rolled to a stop. The tree was still looking for him. He moved up to it carefully avoiding the roots and began hacking away at the lower trunk with his hatchets. The tree recoiled and backed up into the stone wall. It took quite a few more swings but the tree finally fell and became motionless as the captain made his way back around to the gate.

Once the crew saw Mr. Skyborn motioning for them to hurry and realized that the guards had opened the portal they dug deep for the last of their energy and ran for it. They hurried inside with the captain driving them from behind. Once he reached the gate he pushed Gannon inside and shouted for the guard to close the heavy door.

The crew fell down where they stood and simply lay there for a few minutes holding their sides and trying to breathe. Finally, the captain called out, "Role call!" Name by name they reported in. Gannon reported for Altair and the boson. "What happened to Jared and Tychus?" the captain asked Gannon.

"I don't yet know, sir. I lost them in the grove of fire-dusters," Gannon reported sadly.

"Jared's resourceful. He'll find a way back," the captain replied somewhat confidently. "Too bad we lost Halandir. Tree's got him first before we could react. That was his scream you heard."

"Should we send a group back out to find my mentor?" Gannon asked.

"No, Mr. Skyborn. At this point, I believe we would just lose more of the crew if we tried. He'll find his way back. We did create quite the distraction. Once we have the strength to move again we'll head back to the inn."

_______

Jared and Tychus stumbled into the inn perhaps a tenth later sopping wet with twigs sticking out of their hair and their clothing so shredded it was beginning to lose its purpose. Gannon stood up from his seat in the common room and rushed over to greet them, "Mentor, are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine," Jared replied, "I'd rather not talk about it. Just order us some pure water."

"Yes, Mentor," Gannon replied as he hurried off to get the drinks. When he came back he explained, "Mentor, the captain says we're going to patch up the damage in the hull, but we're not even going to try for a mast. We'll set out in two days for Azekah."

"Without a mast?" Jared clarified with a slight shake of his head.

"Yes, without a mast."

"That will take days," Gannon's mentor stated the obvious rather thoughtfully.

"Yes, Mentor, but we will be alive," the intern focused on perhaps the only positive in the entire situation.

"This will put us back a bit."

"Don't worry, Mentor. It's better we accomplish the mission late than never."

"Yes, but now it's going to take a lot longer to tie up the loose ends. There is also the probability that Philorum beats us to it, and then, all chance of subtlety will be out the airlock."

# Leftovers

### The Adventures of Gannon Skyborn, Volume II

"Just follow the trail of debris. He'll be at the end of it."

\---Galleo City Guardsman.

The warehouse was empty. Not empty like a house swept clean and the occupants moved away, more empty like a house ransacked by bandits and anything of value, potentially even nailed down, taken away. Yes, that second kind of empty that compelled you to ask all kinds of questions and then wonder if you really wanted the answers.

Crates were turned over. Barrels were smashed into thousands of pieces. Some of the smaller splinters still stuck out of the walls, a few larger bits too. The paltry light let in by the main doors illuminated the floating dust and packing straw that still floated through the air as a noxious haze partially obscuring the darker corners.

And there was blood. Lots of it. It had pooled on the floor in several places and often streaked. There were drops splattered against the wall, the few unbroken crates and even the ceiling in a few places. There were little trails of it running from one place to another before ending in a pool usually followed by a streak and there were other fainter trails just discernable which led out to other doors and one trail which simply disappeared.

"Looks like he beat us to it," Jared stated rather calmly to his apprentice.

"Looks like it, Mentor," Gannon Skyborn replied as he ran a hand over his spiky, light-blue hair before stopping to rub the back of his own neck. His pale purple eyes took in everything, and what he couldn't see he found with his sixth sense. Nothing remained in any of the crates or splintered remains of the barrels other than a little straw and other assorted packing material. The bone knight had been thorough as usual. At least it appeared that way

The officer standing behind them gave a polite cough and then asked, "Would the gentlemen like to see anything else?"

"Any chance he brought a survivor in to be questioned?" Jared asked even though he was fairly sure he knew the answer.

"I'm afraid not," the officer replied.

"Then I thank you for your time, sir," Jared said resignedly , "Please seal off the area so we can have a closer look later." Jared then turned to his apprentice, "It seems we best be off to the representatives and see if they have any information."

_______

A few minutes walking brought the two Gileadan Rogue Hunters to the main Gileadan ambassador's office only a little way off the waterfront of Cycross City. The city was alive but well worn as is typical of most cities that support major military installations. The training grounds perhaps five highstrides away rigorously trained almost every soldier in the Southland Army. The ambassador's office was located on the edge of the nicer part of town on the far side from the training grounds. It stood between a large inn and a bakery on one of the larger thoroughfares. The actual marketplace was perhaps another short walk along the road toward the docks.

Jared led Gannon into the well-lit foyer of the ambassador's office. It was a somewhat cramped hallway with a few chairs lined up against the outside wall. An elderly female secretary dressed in plain robes crewed the no-nonsense looking slab of wood that served as her desk. She was absently scribbling some kind of report when they entered but looked up long enough to recognize their clothes and ask how she could help.

"Just trying to find out if that bone knight left any pieces for us to pick up," Jared stated flatly in his almost sarcastic tone of voice.

"You must be Jared and his apprentice," the secretary inclined her head ever so slightly. Then she fixed them with a stern expression, "You're late!"

"We were held up by a storm at sea," Jared explained as though explaining that the sky was blue.

"That's no excuse," the secretary frowned. "You should be setting a better example for your apprentice. _He_ got here before you and now look..."

"That's quite enough, Ms. Geltie," the thin looking ambassador said as he looked out the door. "I have words enough for the two of us. Please, come in, Jared. We have some things to discuss."

The two Tanthris Rogue Hunters stood up from the uncomfortable seats in the lobby and made their way into the ambassador's office. He motioned for them to take seats which despite their beautiful and supple appearance were about the most uncomfortable things they had ever sat in. They had hardly gotten through pleasantries when Gannon impolitely stood up and went over to lean against the paneled wood wall. It was likely stuffed with sawdust to keep conversations private.

"As I was saying," the wiry ambassador went on, "he got here a few days ago and was clearing house much before we even knew how much house there was to clean. He did bring in a prisoner yesterday. I have her in the cells below. A most curious young woman. I think she might even live. Our doctor saw to her wounds and was able to stem the bleeding rather more easily than expected. You will be welcome to meet her later."

"He left someone alive?" Jared was in disbelief.

"Oh, at least five, maybe six someones," the ambassador confirmed.

"That was unusually sloppy of him. Why are they not in our detention cells?"

"That would be because they got away while he was emptying the warehouse."

"Of course," Jared half sighed. "That would explain those trails of blood. What was their exact crime?"

"Well, there's the rub," the ambassador scratched his head. "We're not quite sure. We know there was some technological theft occurring, just not the specifics."

Jared and Gannon exchanged knowing glances with each other. "You might as well take us to the prisoner, now," Jared said to fill the embarrassing silence.

"Yes, yes, of course," replied the ambassador. "But first, you might want to read his report of the incident. If it's not enlightening, then it's at least... interesting reading."

_______

About a half tenth later, Jared and his apprentice traded pages yet again. "What do you think, Gannon?" his mentor asked.

"It was interesting, Mentor," Gannon replied with a concealed chuckle he almost felt guilty about. "That means we have eleven dead and one captured. All female."

"Most curious, most curious indeed," Jared replied. "That last fact really does add a bit of mystery to it, doesn't it?"

"Yes, Mentor," Gannon replied thoughtfully, "What do you think they are after?"

"I don't think it's a weapon this time. At least that much seems to be clear."

"Then, perhaps we should speak with the prisoner, Mentor."

_______

Ms. Geltie led them up the stairs in the back of the ambassador's office and then down another longer flight of stairs concealed behind the reception area. Gannon felt they were perhaps two levels below street level. A row of four very secure looking cells stretched before them.

A jailor sat at the far end on a simple wooden chair. He stood up slowly as they reached the bottom of the stair. "I've got the prisoner ready for you as requested," he said flatly. "I thought it a bit odd of an arrangement at first, but it makes sense. I'll let the gentlemen in."

The jailor had a ring of eight keys hanging from his belt and carefully picked out one of them as he made his way to the center of the hall then turned to face the rock wall and inserted the key into a crack. A quick turn triggered a well-oiled mechanism, and the wall slid inward then to the side. The same key opened another thick steel door where the female was waiting for them.

The woman was tied quite securely to a thick metal plank. The ropes passed over her arms and around her legs almost like a spider had caught her in its web. Only her young face was uncovered. Her eyes flashed with defiance behind a clear glass plate that had been set between her and two wooden stools. "It will make sense momentarily," the jailor advised as he let the Rogue Hunters in. "Would you like privacy?"

"Please," Jared replied without taking his eyes off the young lady. There was something about the human female that made him uncomfortable, "Please check on us every quarter of a tenth."

"Will do, sirs," the jailer replied as he dipped his weathered fisherman's cap and closed the wall behind them.

"Miss," Jared began politely, "would you care to tell us something about yourself?" Gannon had to credit Jared for not flinching at the amount of spittle blown from the young woman's mouth that splattered across the glass plate, and now partly obscured their view of her. "That was rather... unlady-like, " Jared settled on the last word after some thought. "Let 's try this again. My name is Jared, I'm a Rogue Hunter for the Tower of Gilead. What is your name?"

"Go to Morbius!" the young woman shouted back.

"We've just come from there," Jared explained flatly, "There are much nicer places to spend my free time." His tone of voice was just that side of sarcasm that it might have caught the woman flat-footed had her feet been on the floor. The anger disappeared from her eyes just long enough for curiosity to shine momentarily through. "Now, young woman," Jared's tone was just this side of patronizing, "please tell me your name."

She stared at them a moment longer as she gathered spittle for another attack. "Mentor," Gannon broke in as she drew in her lips, "I am most endeared by her manners. Perhaps we should invite the young lady to supper." He winked with the eye she couldn't see.

"I believe you may be right," Jared nodded to Gannon. "Let's come back this evening when she's more pliable. Jailor, we're finished here now. Please make sure she get's nothing but water." The jailor let them out of the cell and back in a few minutes later with a small table and a roast chicken bought from a street vendor. Jared smiled, "We'll be back."

_______

The two Rogue Hunter's made their way back to the warehouse for a closer look after leaving a message with Ms. Geltie to have the bone knight meet them if he could. The warehouse looked much the same as it did before except the dust had settled a bit more. Gannon and his mentor went over everything carefully. They knocked on every crate, barrel, wall, and floor board. They examined the ceiling and drew a map of the final resting places of everything, even the pools of dried blood they believed indicated a body. There were still blood streaks left over from a body or two being dragged out of the building to be dumped at sea by the bone knight as was his custom. If you were a criminal, it was just more disconcerting to not find your buddy's body.

Gannon was looking at their hand drawn map and made an observation, "this trail of blood," he pointed at his map, "does not seem to lead anywhere. And there doesn't seem to be enough lost to be fatal. I think there is an exit we are missing."

They found the exit a few minutes of hard looking later. It had been very stealthily concealed in the floorboards under a sliding crate that had been partially destroyed. Jared slid the floorboard to the side and revealed the rock layer beneath it. A quick turn of a ring of stones let that swing into a narrow passage descending from there into the inky blackness below. The sound of dripping water echoed up from the dark opening. "Gannon," said Jared lightly after a few heartbeats, "You may have the honor."

"I am flattered," the apprentice replied with only a hint of sarcasm tinting the very edges of his voice. "I will make sure it is completely safe for you, Mentor."

"Much appreciated," Jared replied in kind. "So thoughtful of you to care for your elders."

Gannon carefully eased himself into the narrow passage and began making his way down the ladder. "Definitely, not made for men," Gannon commented under his breath as he eased his way down the claustrophobic passageway.

It didn't take him long to reach the bottom. He almost wished he hadn't. The water was almost waist deep and that was before he had to crouch to get his head under the overhang. He quickly decided to just close his eyes and navigate with his sixth sense. This of course didn't help that much. The incredibly low and narrow passage went on for a ways before turning and his sense wasn't sharp enough to make out much around the corner other than more wet passageway.

He couldn't quite turn around but shouted rather more loudly than he meant, "Are you coming, Mentor?"

"No, I'll wait here for you," Jared replied. "Just follow it to where it lets out and then come back here."

"Of course mentor," Gannon replied. He worked his way down the constricting passage and around the corner. This, of course, led to more passage. _Great_ , he thought, _more tight confines and another blind corner_.

Gannon's back was aching and his belt was chafing when he finally came to the end of the miserable hole and the only other ladder out. He started to climb up the slender shoot and was about two and a half strides off the surface of the water when a series of wooden rungs gave way and he lost his grip. Splinters bit into his hands as the side rails also sagged and snapped. He tried to brace himself against the edges but the damp walls wouldn't cooperate sending him plunging into the tepid water below. If that wasn't bad enough, a larger piece of the ladder had broken off near the bottom and speared his leg. He clenched his teeth not to scream.

_I will need to inform my Mentor this route isn't safe,_ he thought sarcastically to forget the immense pain in his leg. "Better get headed back," he mumbled quietly to himself before starting back down the dank passageway. There was just one problem. He couldn't move his leg.

Some very careful feeling around revealed to the young apprentice that the piece of wood through his leg was a bit thicker and longer than he originally thought and that it was wedged into the rather thick muck at the bottom and the other side of the upward chute. _Not a problem_ , Gannon told himself staying unusually calm, _I'll just cut the end off with my sword and leave the main part there to stem the bleeding. I just hope no one heard me up there_. There was however the problem of drawing his sword. He just couldn't quite get the last three handbreadths of it out of the scabbard.

The pain and blood loss was starting to fog his mind a little bit by then or he might have taken his belt off and drawn the sword, but that wouldn't have done him much good as he would have been reduced to sawing. _Do I call for help?_ he wondered as he leaned against the wall and tried to keep his leg from slipping further down the spike. _Jared will come for me_ , he consoled himself. _He wouldn't just leave me here, would he?_ He wasn't sure he wanted to answer that last question. That was the thing about his Mentor, you could just never really know for sure.

Gannon waited in the dank, quiet tunnel for what seemed an eternity. He passed the time by bandaging around the wound as best he could by feel without anything more than the short boot knife he had pulled out. After that, he had tried to chip away at the wooden spike through his leg, but that had been far too painful to continue. He accidentally allowed his thoughts to drift a few times and tried to resist the eventual shivering. The most annoying part of it all was that when he showed off his scar in the future he was not even going to have a decent story to go with it. _Actually, I might as well start putting it together now_ , he thought _. Something like... I crept down in the crypt-like passageway as rats scurried around my feet. Are there rats down here? I don't remember any_. _I wonder if they would eat me after I died? Or would they even wait that long?_

Gannon nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the distant splash and gentle sloshing. His head was spinning from the exquisite pain in his leg, and visions of rats washed through his mind. A cold sweat trickled down his face, _or is that blood?_ He faintly remembered bumping his head a few times on the way down the chute. It felt like tenths ago.

The sloshing continued and sense returned to his mind somewhat. It was probably Jared making his way down the tunnel to check on him. At least, that was what he hoped. The gentle sloshing continued and little waves began lapping at his side. He still gripped his leg under the water to ensure it didn't slip any farther down the spike. "Mentor, is that you," he whispered loudly.

"Yes, it's me," the familiar voice responded in a similar loud whisper. "Why are you still mucking about down here in the dark?"

"I'm a bit stuck," Gannon replied, " any chance you have a small hatchet on you?"

"Why would I carry hatchet? You haven't gone and got caught in simple foot trap, have you?"

"Not exactly," Gannon grimaced as he tried to resist the pain, "The Morbian ladder failed as I was climbing it, and I seem to have gotten caught in the lower portion of it."

"So you got caged in by rotting wood." the voice echoed back down the tunnel disapprovingly. "I thought a lot better of you."

"What I mean," Gannon clarified through gritting teeth, "is... oh, just get over here and see for yourself."

_______

The young woman tied to the cold metal slab half sat, half lay in the dark. The smell of perfectly spiced roast chicken absolutely dominated the air in the small room. It was close, too. She had seen the jailor a few times now come in with his little candle and cup of water. The chicken was sitting there on the tiny stool a few inches from her face. She had tried multiple times to reach it with an outstretched tongue. She had fought to get the ropes around her upper body just that little bit looser. The young woman had even tried to shake her body and rock the metal slab enough to fall over and maybe hit the stool causing the chicken and rice, she was sure she saw rice on the platter, to fall close enough to give her a nibble. The jailor kept a clean floor and she would have no issues eating off it.

It was driving her mad. She hadn't eaten anything other than the half loaf of rye bread the jailor had fed her what seemed like days ago. In her short dreams she was eating chicken with her friends or shoeing chickens out of a yard, or getting eggs from under hens, or selling chicken, or chomping down on a nice tender leg with the juices sliding down the sides of her mouth. No, that was drool, definitely drool. And she had no way to wipe it off.

_______

Gannon sat inside the doctor's office wrapped in a blanket , and just drunk enough from the medicinal alcohol to not be screaming as the physician sewed up his leg from the inside out. "You didn't have to hack away at the pole going through my leg like that," Gannon remarked somewhat angrily to his Mentor. "You could have gone back and fetched a hatchet and done it two or three strokes."

"You were losing blood and had already been down there far too long. Hypothermia was already starting to addle your mind, my young apprentice," Jared replied softly from across the room.

"Oh, I will addle your mind alright if you would kindly get a bit closer, Did you not think that, just maybe, my insistent screaming meant I was in pain," Gannon absently wondered if he could spit far enough to reach his mentor as he spoke.

"Would you hold still," the doctor interrupted the two of them before Jared could reply with his usual dry humor, "This is delicate work. And you, Sir," the doctor somehow managed to glare at Jared without ever taking his eyes off the wound, "are not helping anymore. I admit the fancy tourniquet you applied probably saved his limb, and he was approaching the later stages of hypothermia, but as I stated before; you are no longer helping."

"You see, even the doctor agrees with me," Gannon gestured emphatically.

"If you will not hold still, Sir, I will have that disagreeable Tanthris standing in the corner," the doctor motioned to Jared with a head bob, "come over here and hold you down."

"'Hold still' he says," Gannon lamented softly as he lay back down, "'You'll only scream for a bit.' What a dose of poison that was. I hate you. Do you hear me? I hate you." It was about that point when Gannon finally passed out from the combination of alcohol and pain, probably more from the latter.

_______

"Hello, little chicken," the tied up young woman mumbled deliriously. "Won't you come over here? I want to eat you. Come here you little rascal. It's okay. Momma's going to put you in her tummy where you'll be nice and comfy." Outside the door, the original jailer came back to relieve his replacement.

_______

Gannon felt himself being shaken violently awake and instantly wished he could go back to sleep. "Wake up apprentice," his Mentor shouted far too loudly. "It's a new day, and we have a world to subdue."

At that moment the only thing Gannon was interested in subduing was the throbbing pain in his head. "Please, not so loud," the apprentice begged from his cot. When his Mentor threw the drapes open seconds later he felt like his eyeballs were being seared out of his skull. Then, he realized that despite the massive headache, what really was hurting more than anything else was his leg. It took him a second to realize what had happened, and when he looked down and saw the stained bandages around his leg the memories came flooding back; the tunnel, the deep water, the busted ladder, sitting there for hours, and even the doctor removing the "splinter" from his leg. It all came flooding back and there was something else nagging at the back of his mind that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"There's a good apprentice," Jared lauded Gannon as he struggled out from under his sheet and steadied himself on the edge of his bed. Gannon hung his head and wiped at his eyes and forehead with his long thin fingers wishing he could die or at least go back to sleep. "Experiencing the hangover I see," Jared stated the obvious. "I really do prefer the operations in The Tower. The anesthesia wears off a little quicker, and after throwing up once you're good to go. Would you like a bucket?"

"No, just give me a moment," Gannon replied. "What did the doctor say about my wound? I cannot remember."

" You'll be fine. Nothing major damaged. Didn't even break a bone," his Mentor replied cheerfully. " You will however have a bit of limp for a while, and you need to change those bandages out after each darkening and truenight."

"Is this first or secondlight? And how long have I been out of it?"

"It's secondlight," Jared replied. "I let you sleep almost a full cycle. I inspected the warehouse and went over the bone knight's notes a second time while you were unconscious."

"I just feel like we're forgetting something."

_______

The guard had changed again. The young lady wasn't sure if she had gone to sleep or not. The chicken was still sitting there on the plate before her. The heat was gone from it, but she was certain it was still edible. She only wanted one bite, Actually, she wanted the whole thing. She felt ravenous.

The jailer came in again with the candle bobbing along in the hand opposite a tin of water. It wasn't the stale water she expected to be served while being held prisoner, and the tin was even clean. She drank deeply and even thanked the jailer unconsciously.

When the jailer turned to exit, she asked as sweetly as she knew how, "You wouldn't mind just getting that chicken a bit closer do you?"

"I'm sorry, Miss," the jailer apologized with just a touch of remorse. "I'm only permitted to give you water. But since you asked so nicely, I'll make sure the rats don't worry it any."

"Rats! What rats!? I don't remember seeing any rats," she exclaimed anxiously.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head, Miss," the jailer explained. "There aren't no rats down here. Just Scruffy here," he pointed to a furry rodent sticking his pale nose out of the jailer's coat, "and the rest of his family."

"I wonder if cold chicken attracts rats?" the young woman wondered aloud to the darkness after the Jailer closed the door with a dreadful squeak that she hadn't heard before _. That had been the door, right?_

_______

Gannon limped into the ambassador's office a few steps behind his mentor. "Come to see the report again?" the ambassador asked honestly.

"No," Jared answered absently. "I was just wondering if the bone knight had dropped by and received our message.

"He came in briefly near eclipse this darkening, but I was out on an errand and missed him. Ms Geltie said he seemed to be in a bit of a hurry and only stayed long enough to drop off a letter and grab something out of the equipment racks in the sub basement."

"So he's found the rest of them?" Gannon came to the logical conclusion.

"You might think that," the ambassador replied, "but I've learned that he usually goes for the weapons rack when that's the case. He probably thinks he has a lead."

"Speaking of leads, Mentor," Gannon began. "Where did that tunnel lead?"

"To the backroom of a recently deceased seamstress," Jared replied then added, "I double checked."

"So this," Gannon gestured to his leg, "was all for nothing."

"It's not quite like that," Jared replied in his almost sarcastic tone. "I discovered an excellent bakery next door that made the most wonderful little sweet rolls." To his credit, the ambassador didn't even blink. "I wonder," Jared added after a moment, "do you think they might know where I could get a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice to go with it?"

"You have to follow this Tanthris everywhere?" the ambassador asked flatly.

"It is my curse," Gannon deadpanned.

"Speaking about food," Jared said as if he hadn't heard anything. "We should probably head over to the stand that sold that wonderful chicken and get something to eat. Why does that remind me of something?"

"Got me," Gannon responded, "Let's eat and then go check out that little bakery. _Maybe_ they saw some people coming and going."

"Already asked," Jared replied, " but there was a promising little clothier a bit way down the lane from there. I really do need to purchase a new cloak." Somehow, Gannon managed to keep from rolling his eyes.

_______

Gannon was licking the last of the chicken from his fingers when someone bumped into the back of Jared's chair while he was drinking a glass of water. A half second later Gannon was wet. _He did that on purpose_ , the apprentice thought as he stood up to avoid getting any wetter.

Jared just stared at him slightly more blankly than usual. Then, he stood up with a smile, "Now I know what we're forgetting!"

"To ask about the orange juice. Because while you were..."

"No! Although, yes, that too," Jared replied with a finger wave of acknowledgement. "That spit-full young..."

"You mean spiteful," Gannon corrected him.

"No. I meant what I said. That young lady we have tied up in the dark," Jared exclaimed a bit too loudly. A couple people from other tables bestowed confused, shocked, or somewhat disgusted glances on them.

"It's not like that," Jared tried to calm the unwitting audience. "Guards everywhere..."  
"Mentor," Gannon cut in, "You are not improving our message. Let's just buy a chicken for the lady and be on our way." Somehow, for reasons the young Tanthris didn't understand, that seemed to only make the shocked stares worse.

_______

Ms. Geltie led the Tanthris Hogue Hunters back to the cells where the jailer was waiting with his long rat, Scruffy, perched across his left shoulder. She gave just the smallest shudder upon seeing it and went promptly back upstairs.

"Good light to you gentlemen," the jailer greeted them

"And you," Jared replied. "Have our instructions been followed?"

"To the letter," the jailer answered with a smile.

"Did you tame that rat on your shoulder down here?" Jared asked.

"Oh, no, gentlemen," the jailer replied looking as though his honor had been assaulted. "I run a clean prison I do, I wouldn't permit a rodent down here that wasn't tame already. I found Scruffy as a runt near the docks behind a crate."

"May I hold him?" Jared asked genuinely interested the little ruffian.

"Sure thing," the jailer replied as he stood up to let them into the cell with the young lady. "There you go, Scruffy," the jailer encouraged the timid rat to crawl onto Jared's outstretched arm, and opened the cell door. Gannon gave him a bit of extra room as the rat scurried around Jared's shoulders a few times before settling down.

When the wall pulled back, there was the young lady still tied to the metal plank with the cold chicken in front of her on the little stool. The jailer held the little candle forward of them and lit two other candles in the corners of the small room lightening it up significantly. "Hello, Miss," Jared said stepping into the light with Scruffy sniffing the air from his shoulder. "We have something for you."

The young lady's eyes rolled up in her head from sheer terror, and her body sagged against the ropes. "I'll get our prisoner some water," the Jailer offered helpfully and stepped back out of the room. Gannon went ahead and took away the old plate of chicken and rice and put it on the floor just out of the circle of light. He replaced it with the fresh chicken they had just bought. Jared kindly let Scruffy down to the floor so he could enjoy the free meal. Gannon, however, moved quickly away from the plate and shifted his stool to the other corner where the light lit his face just perfectly for the mood he wanted.

The lovely, warm smell of the chicken brought the woman back to consciousness a few moments before the jailer could reach her with the little tin cup of water. Her eyes darted around the room and she seemed to be straining to hear. At that moment, Jared commented to his nervous apprentice without taking his eyes off the young woman's face, "Don't worry about it, he's just nibbling on a leg."

The blood drained from the face of the distressed young lady as she tried to look down and see herself, which was pretty much impossible considering how thoroughly she was tied up. "Please," she begged, "I don't want to be eaten by rats. What do you want?" She could only assume that she had lost all feeling in her legs while trying to loosen the ropes to get at the chicken earlier.

Jared was dumbstruck by how eager the young lady appeared to want to cooperate. Gannon pulled out his little notepad much sooner than he expected and prepared to write while Jared booted his mind several tenths forward in the conversation he expected to have. "What is your name?" he finally got his mouth move.

"Annibelle Rector of twenty-eight Kilendor Lane," the young woman replied. "I'm the oldest of three daughters and have completed schooling through level four. I work as a seamstress with three other women at..."

Gannon took notes at a furious pace as she went on and on. Jared didn't ask another question for almost another twenty minutes. Finally, he got his chance, "What exactly is your role in all... this."

"My role?" Annibelle asked.

"Yes," Jared began to clarify, "what were you doing in that warehouse when the bone knight came in and started killing everyone?"  
"I had been invited there by a flyer slid under the door at my job," Annibelle explained. "There was going to be a demonstration of something that young ladies would find useful. You know, one of those ambiguous flyers that always gets put up by traveling salesman. I had nothing better to do that truenight, so I figured I would go see the show and least get some free entertainment. Did you call that thing that started killing everybody a 'bone knight'? Are you two from The Tower?"

"Oh, my," Jared lifted his hand to his forehead and sat in silence for a moment as the anxious young lady watched. "Yes, we are," Jared said at last. "Did you by any chance catch the name of the person performing the demonstration? Did you get to see the demonstration?"

"No, Sir," she replied feebly. "No, to both your questions."  
"Did you see the person who was going to do the demonstration?"

"No," she replied as honestly as she knew then added, "it was dark and there were a lot of people. I might have seen them."

"Did you see the object to be demonstrated?" Jared asked even though he was pretty sure of the answer.

"No," she replied still trying to look down at her leg until a flicker of candle light illuminated Scruffy in the corner still munching happily on the chicken. "It was in a crate surrounded by candles.

Realizing that he wasn't get much of anything useful out of the young lady Jared asked the only question of any use left, "How big was the crate?"

"Oh, it was about medium sized."

"Medium sized?"

"Maybe about as long on each side as my arm."

"That really narrows it down," Gannon said not quite helpfully as he mimicked his mentor's normal not quite sincere tone.

"May I have some that chicken please, Sir," she asked so sweetly that Gannon almost moved without thinking.

"Just one more moment," Jared said with a sigh as he held up a finger. "You went to the warehouse because of the flyer; saw a bunch of people you didn't really recognize too well; saw a crate, but not the demonstrator; were very nearly killed by one of our associates; and you still have no idea why?"  
"Yes," she replied, "I took a nasty bump on the head and woke up here. Can I please have a bit of that chicken?"

With the experienced eye of a career Rogue Hunter, Jared knew she was telling the truth. He was frustrated. That annoying bone knight had gone into the salesman's gathering and killed a dozen innocent people who hadn't even seen the technology yet, and it seemed he had let pitchman get away. If that wretched bone knight had just calmly quarantined the warehouse with local guard help, all this could have been avoided and they would know exactly who the rogue they were looking for was.

"Hold on just a moment," Jared explained. "We're going to let you go in just a moment." He reached around and tied a blindfold over her eyes and then began loosening the many ropes binding her to the metal plank. "Gannon, be a good apprentice and don't let her fall."

The ropes finally fell off, and Jared curled them neatly in the corner before retrieving Scruffy and the warm chicken while Gannon held Annibelle up with one of her arms draped over his shoulder. "You'll find your feet momentarily," he assured her as the blood flowed back into her legs. Her lower body felt as if an entire guild of seamstresses were sticking every needle they had into her. The sensation gradually subsided, and Gannon spun her around a few times before guiding her out of the cell with Jared behind them. Jared passed the well-fed rat back to his owner and followed the other two up the stairs after reminding the jailer he left a small mess. More spinning and a slow descent brought them back into the ambassador's office. Another spat of spinning and they were in the lobby standing in front of Ms. Geltie. Just a few more opposite direction spins and they took the blindfold off and she saw natural light for the first time in four cycles.

" Now, be a good girl and head right home," Jared instructed. "Your loved ones are quite likely a bit concerned about you. If you are lucky they haven't started selling your stuff yet. This one time... never mind." Jared scooted her out the door and closed it behind her leaving her just a bit dizzy, disoriented, and standing in a puddle on the side of the street.

Gannon turned to face Ms Geltie who seemed to have and odd expression on her face and was fiddling with something underneath the counter. "I'm sorry, Ms. Did you say something?" he asked.

"Yes, did you learn anything from her?" Ms. Geltie asked again in her no-nonsense tone of voice.

"Not a thing," Jared replied. "Complete and total waste of my time. Poor girl was knocked unconscious by the bone knight and didn't see anything. Any chance our friend has been by?"

"No," the receptionist replied, "I think he might have already left area."

"It is too bad those reports were as useless as they were," Gannon lamented. "They were interesting, but nothing usable."

"I agree," Jared nodded. "Are there any further orders from the tower?"

"No," Ms Geltie replied flatly, "But there is a request that came in yesterday from a captain sailing out of Rie. It seems that Klite has requested an audience with a representative of The Tower."

"That's pretty out of the norm," Jared shook his head in amazement. Gannon looked at him oddly.

Ms Geltie spoke for the Mentor, "Klite's an old Cho-Frinnir that's been living up in those hills for longer than anyone can remember. Even the bone knight says he been there since before he was born. He doesn't tolerate disruptive people, or pretty much anyone who takes advantage of someone weaker."

"He's also a bit on the extremely educated side," Jared exclaimed further. "Our friend who made the mess here once sat down for a bit of a chat with the old fellow and came away feeling like an infant." Jared paused for a moment and then announced. "We'll head down and hear him out. I think the bone knight has the situation here under his control. Would you send a dispatch to The Tower that we've taken the liberty of pursuing this request since we are in the general area, and thank the ambassador for his time. Oh, and whatever you do, don't let Philorum know about this request. "

"I'll make sure the old bone knight stays in the dark," Ms Geltie promised with a smile. "Do you two have anything else you need to do here, or will you be sailing out forthwith?"

"We're leaving," Jared replied, "Just let the ambassador know that his prisoner was innocent of everything. Zero risk."

Having said his piece Jared opened the door and almost collided into Annibelle who had been raising her hand to knock on the door. "Hello, Miss?" he questioned.

"Any chance you still have that chicken?" she asked ever so sweetly.

Jared handed her the little plate with the chicken on it, "I knew had this for some reason."

_______

Ms. Geltie set the two pistols back into their hiding place under her desk after the two Rogue Hunters had left. That had been a near thing. The prisoner had looked her right in the face and not even remotely recognized her.

# Pebbles

### The Adventures of Gannon Skyborn, Volume III

" _It is said that of all the Glorious One's creations, Cho-Frinnir are the most stubborn. The eldest of all these is Klite. Having determined at a young age that he desired to know the entire history of the world, Klite firmly decided that he wouldn't die... and has stuck to that decision ever since_."

\---opening to "A History of the Cho-Frinnir"

"Do you think anyone else will answer the summons, mentor?" Gannon asked as they made their way down the wide street.

"I certainly hope not," Jared answered flatly as always. "I should hate to think you spent all that time sicking up over the railing for nothing."

"You were right there beside me, mentor," Gannon reminded him

"Offering my aid and companionship in your time of struggle," Jared continued to keep up his straight face.

"In fact," Gannon pressed, "I seem to remember pulling you out of the sea when that large wave washed you over the side."

"It was a teaching moment I couldn't afford to pass up," There was only the slightest hint of annoyance beneath the confident words. "You should be honored. Not every apprentice is afforded such a grand opportunity to develop calm and forbearance in the midst of a storm."

"Figurative or literal?" Mr. Skyborn questioned slyly.

Jared thoughtfully paused in his steps and answered, "Yes."

Gannon raised his light blue eyebrows then shook his head and declared, "You're full of it."

"Knowledge is such a difficult thing to pass on," the mentor claimed. "Without a willing vessel to receive, it can only pile up endlessly in the bearer until it becomes a whirling mass of destructive power waiting to be unleashed upon Alum. Imagine what would happen if you failed to receive all the knowledge I have to give you."

"Like the waterspout that just missed the ship, mentor?" Gannon lobbed him an easy one.

"Yes, only without the sheer terror and panic of everyone around me," Jared answered sagely.

"Of course, everyone around you," Gannon allowed graciously.

The two dark-skinned Tanthris continued up the wide street to the top of a small hill, and Jared stopped them to take in the view of the city of Rie. "What do you see?" Jared asked his apprentice.

Gannon's sharp, light purple eyes took in the ancient city. The old port was the only reasonably safe place to approach the southern coast of Alum for highstrides upon highstrides. "I see a large city," Gannon described, "that is full of wide, tree-lined streets, green lawns, and small buildings. Few if any beyond the city government building and the inn we will be staying at," he pointed across to the next hill top, "are more than two-stories. The cobblestone streets are reasonably clean, the people well dressed in cotton or linen, and the wooden buildings well kept if unimaginatively painted."

"What you don't see," Jared added, "is a city pretending to be a town, a great port posturing as a mere fishing village, and a powerful people masquerading as simple townsfolk. There is always more to Rie than meets the senses. This amazing city and the many small towns scattered through the hills around it have birthed more Illuminarchs and famous warriors than any place in Alum. It should not surprise you that the Ancient chooses to live nearby."

"With that said," Jared held up a finger, "it must also be noted that those who are capable of the greatest good tend to also be capable of the greatest evil. For example, Nobus was born here before he moved to Lyxshur, and you know how that turned out."

"I understand, mentor," Gannon acknowledged.

"Then you will understand why I must keep such a tight leash on you the next few days," Jared explained levelly. "The very air here is infectious, and I can't have you running off to pursue destiny or some other tempting... distraction. I'm almost of a mind to just leave you outside the representative's office."

Gannon looked at him sideways for a moment through his slanted eyes and wisely decided not to ask another question.

The Gileadan representative hung his shingle from a pole at the edge of a wide well kept lawn awash in various flowers and shaded by two stout oaks, their leaves still green in the early Leaving. The sea breeze had to wind its way up and around the hill, but it took the bite out of the otherwise blistering heat of the day and gently toyed with the dangling shingle pushing it back and forth like a child with a toy cart. The actual structure lounged indolently behind the oaks at the end of a narrow dirt path set with smallish flagstones that were only used when the afternoon thunderstorms passed through.

The two Rogue Hunters made their way down the path to the white house. A wide veranda surrounded it, and a weathered porch swing big enough for three hung between two of the posts where it could look out over the yard to the street. Gannon half expected to see several children come barreling around a corner any moment. The doors and windows were all open to let in the breeze and post eclipse light.

"Behave yourself," Jared cautioned his apprentice softly before they stepped inside.

"Welcome," said the most beautiful voice and lilting accent Gannon had ever heard from the other side Jared. He instinctively looked around his mentor's shoulder to see the young Tanthris sitting at the desk almost as beautiful as her voice. He smiled widely unable to help himself. The friendly receptionist smiled back and the world around Gannon ceased to exist, as she announced, "I'm Keme, who are you?" He almost closed his eyes to better hear her rich accent.

"The grinning idiot behind me is Gannon," Jared answered for his stupefied apprentice without even needing to turn around. "Wave Gannon." Gannon waved.

Keme waved petitely back still smiling, "Hello again."

"He's pleased to meet you," Jared said flatly. "Is Glacius in?"

"I'll let him know you're here," she replied ever so sweetly to Gannon's ears. She turned and cupped a hand against her mouth, "Glacius! Rogue Hunters to see you!"

"Send 'em back!" Glacius hollered from the back room.

"You're coming?" Jared asked his apprentice doubtfully.

Gannon nodded unable to take his eyes off Keme until Jared grabbed him painfully by the neck and steered him toward the door. "He was most pleased to meet you," Jared declared plainly before dragging his apprentice through the doorway. The receptionist's laugh chimed in Gannon's ears, and he caught his shoulder on the doorframe.

"Glacius," Jared said plainly as he bowed ever so slightly to the representative.

"Jared," Glacius replied ever so coolly. He was in his early thirties with sandy blonde hair and a well kept beard. Intelligent, light brown eyes looked out over a plain nose as if he was deciding whether to throw Jared out of his office. The two stared at each other for nearly half a minute when a smile finally broke out on Glacius' face.

"Glad to see you're still doing well. They even gave you an apprentice, I see," the man commented as he stood up to walk around his desk and give Jared a hug.

"Hopefully this one will turn out better than your last one," Jared quipped betraying no emotion.

"I thought I did a perfectly respectable job of it," Glacius motioned to Jared. "Now, when you get tired of chasing down villains and leaving damsels in distress, come back and see me again, and I'll teach you something more useful to society." Then Glacius turned his gaze to Gannon, "You're lucky to have Jared mentoring you. He's one in a million."

"I remind myself that every truenight as I rock myself to sleep," was Gannon's deadpan reply. That got Glacius to smile again.

The representative turned his attention back to Jared, "What brings you to my quiet corner of Alum?"

"A summons from Klite reached us at Cycross," Jared detailed. "One of my favorite bone knights was also in the area. It sounded interesting, so I decided to answer before any more bodies started showing up."

"If you're going to take care of it, then I'll call off the rest of the wolves," Glacius nodded.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's this about?" Jared questioned his former mentor.

"Some teenager stumbled into the office a few days ago with a message from the Ancient," Glacius related the event. "Poor kid was terrified beyond all reason. Probably one of those kids that doesn't think Cho-Frinnir are real until their eyebrows get singed off. Anyway, the kid said Klite had found him playing in the woods, his words not mine, and was told to deliver a message to me here. Apparently the old stargazer decided that someone from the Tower needed to speak with him as soon as possible. You're here first. Congratulations."

"He just wants us to go meet with him?" Jared stated quizzically.

"As urgent as the boy made it sound, I wouldn't be surprised if he has few other things in mind," Glacius hinted. "That creature's brain never stops working. He's probably throwing pebbles again."

"Throwing pebbles?" Jared actually had a trace of curiosity in his voice.

"It's how Klite describes his way affecting the world around him," Glacius began didactically. He had obviously given the speech several times before. "If you throw a pebble in a pool it will create ripples. If you throw several pebbles in a pool you will create several rings of ripples, some of which will cancel each other out at points or become larger at others."

"The Ancient sees himself as some kind of reptile sitting beneath the surface of the pool reading the ripples that come his way and occasionally sticking his nose up to make several of his own," Glacius continued. "He goes on to say that frequently the ripples bounce off the shore and come back around. That's history repeating itself. Klite believes that once you can figure out where the shoreline is, you can predict the returns of history."

Jared finished the idea aloud, "Considering Klite has been around so long, he must be expecting another dangerous ripple heading our way and has stuck his snout out of the water in an attempt to neutralize it, or he's planning to 'throw a pebble'. What has he seen?"

"I don't know, but it must be important," Glacius surmised, "This is not one his normal ways to get in touch."

"We'll head out tomorrow," Jared decided.

"Do you still remember where it is?"

"Yes."

"Do you have a story for him?"

"Several," Jared stated flatly.

"Wonderful," Glacius smiled. "I have supplies in a shed out back that you can use. Keme can show your apprentice where they are."

"You heard him, Gannon," Jared ordered almost conversationally. "Get some sleeping rolls, shovels, and some rope, plus whatever else you think you might need. We'll be gone for about five or six days. Don't worry about food. We'll pick that up on the way out of town."

Gannon exited eagerly and left the two older Alumnir to reminisce. Keme was still sitting at her desk. Her slanted, deep purple eyes were focused on a book. Her thick, vibrantly purple hair fell in a series of heavy curls and framed her dusky, narrow face like a Kadorian painting.

It took Gannon a moment to finally find his voice. When the words came out they were just a bit hurried and dry from disuse, "Your boss, Glacius, said I should go out with you..." The young Tanthris arched a pierced eyebrow and set her book down causing Gannon to forget the rest of his sentence.

She waited expectantly for more, but Gannon couldn't remember for the life of him what he was supposed to be doing. Keme saved him at last, "You must mean out to the shed to retrieve your equipment."

Gannon had no idea what she said, but she said it so beautifully that he didn't really care. He just nodded his head. "And what would you be needing?" she asked as she stood up. She was a little taller than Gannon and stared down at him.

"Uhm, uh..." Gannon stammered incoherently as he searched for words while she waited expectantly.

"Follow me," she saved him from himself again and stepped lightly around the desk. Her blue, ankle-length, cotton skirt flared behind her as her stout shoes tapped against the floor boards. Gannon followed her around the veranda then across a beaten path out back to a weathered garden shed that looked like it was trying to keep from falling with the last of its strength.

Keme fished out a key from a waist pocket on the way to the shed. The lock surrendered easily and she opened the wide door. Gardening equipment leaned against all the sides and unexpectedly stout beams held up the rafters and walls. Gannon was able to identify a trap door in the back corner more by the absence of anything on top of it than anything else.

Keme turned suddenly, took both his hands in hers, and locked eyes with him. "Let's try this again, because, so far, you are utterly failing," she stated in her wonderful lilt. "Hello, my name is Keme." She continued to hold on to his hands and nodded for him to reply.

"I...I'm Gannon," the apprentice choked out. "I'm very pleased to meet you."

Keme smiled, and the world was once again perfect. "I'm pleased to meet you as well. Now, ask me a question."

"Does everyone here talk like you, because if so, I think I might just stay," Gannon complimented her.

She had the decency to blush, "Most of the people living out in the hills do."

"So you're from around here?" Gannon was beginning to get his nerve back.

"A few villages west of here, yes," she clarified in that glorious lilt.

Gannon wondered how he could keep her talking. "So how did you become a receptionist for Glacius?" he inquired further. That would keep her talking.

Keme was opening her mouth to reply when Jared called from the house, "I don't hear the sound of my apprentice struggling under load! Get working you two!"

"Yes, mentor," Gannon called back, and Keme snickered behind her slender hand.

"Is he always this... demanding?" she couldn't keep the smile from her eyes.

"Once, he even lifted a finger to help," Gannon reminisced in mock thoughtfulness as he stepped inside the shed and into a spider web. He frantically brushed it off his face and dusted his clothes in case the inhabitant had not already been dislodged. Keme was still staring at him from behind her hand outside the door. "Now that we've established that I don't like spiders, would you be so kind as to lead the way down to the armory."

Keme helped him find the items he needed and even helped carry them back up the stairs. She locked the shed behind them and followed Gannon back to the front door where he dumped the supplies on the porch, while planning organize them a little better later. Gannon made a little more noise than required packing the backpacks and arranging the tools while Keme sat down on the porch swing and told him a simple tale of how she came to be there.

Jared came out about a half tenth later to find Gannon sipping sun tea beside Keme on the front porch listening to her story. The mentor inspected the packs then announced himself, "I'm truly saddened that the two of you had no thought for the welfare of your elders."

The two young adults turned around to look at him and smiled, "Your sun tea is sitting on the window sill," the receptionist pointed out. "If you're thirsty, it's no fault of mine."

Jared stepped back inside and grabbed the heavy glass. When he came back out, he had more to say, "It seems we have one more person we must take along with us to meet the Ancient. Glacius insisted it was necessary and all but twisted my arm. I'm afraid I couldn't refuse. "

"Who would that be, mentor?" Gannon queried.

"Some young damsel from around here named Keme," Jared announced lifelessly. "Hopefully she won't slow us down."

"I will not slow you down," the willowy young lady challenged as she rose to the bait. "You will have to keep up with me. My things are already packed."

"I do hope you are planning on carrying them yourself," Jared tweaked with only a ghost of a smile.

The look of shock in the young lady's face was priceless. "I do indeed."

"Remember she said that," Jared instructed Gannon. "When she asks us to help carry her pack, the answer will be 'No'."

Keme stood up and stomped back into the house with an angry swish of skirts. As she passed, Jared continued to tease, "We'll be leaving from where the north road reaches the city's outer wall at eclipse, if you can wake up that early."

Gannon stared back up at his mentor disbelievingly. "Why did you go and do that?"

"We still have thing to get done today," Jared explained levelly. "I can't have you wasting half of secondlight just talking with some random girl when there is work to be done."

"What work? The packs already have everything in them but the food we'll buy tomorrow," Gannon challenged.

"I'm positive I'll think of something."

_______

Keme was waiting for them by the side of the road at the edge of town. Her purple hair had been tamed into a simple braid while her dress had been exchanged for baggy denim pants with an assortment of pockets and a green cotton blouse that looked comfortable. Her pack looked a bit under-sized but that only added to Gannon's esteem of her.

Jared had them spread out the food a little more evenly between the packs and then set off into the light woods beside the road. Hardwoods and aspen mingled together above various broadleaf bushes and thorny vines. The stream they followed gurgling amiably beside them filled the rare lulls in conversation between Gannon and Keme.

They traveled until Thiel dipped beneath the horizon and took a short break for secondmeal. After that, Jared took over the conversation, relating stories he had heard about the Ancient of Rie as they made their way under the light of Athiel. Gannon would have been more eager to listen if the stories hadn't precluded Keme from talking. He would have been thrilled just to listen to her read a shopping list.

They paused again for another light meal shortly before the dawn of secondlight. The undergrowth was becoming thicker and their progress slowed substantially as they fought their way through or around denser patches of small trees, thorns bushes, and random boulders. Shortly after Thiel set, they finally bedded down in a small draw with a tiny stream running through it. Jared sent the younger two out to get wood for the fire while he prepped the meal.

Athiel was far enough to the northeast in this part of Alum that a few stars could be seen towards the southwest. As it would for anyone born in the tower, it made Gannon feel a bit more on edge as he went about collecting sticks. He was bringing back his second load when motion near the top of the eastern hill caught his eye. When he couldn't readily identify it he reached out with his sixth sense and felt around the top of the hill. Numerous large boulders registered but, he couldn't pick out anything that didn't seem natural beyond than the distinct sensation of being watched.

Gannon was about to comment on the experience upon reaching camp, but Jared spoke first, "You sensed our visitor, didn't you?"

"I think so mentor, it's up on the hill hiding among the boulders," Gannon answered pensively. "Is that him?"

"Possibly, or one of his kind," Jared reasoned.

"Are they dangerous?"

"Is fire dangerous?"

"Point taken, mentor," Gannon conceded.

"When dealing with Cho-Frinnir you must be exceedingly careful with your words," Jared instructed him. "They can be... indescribably stubborn, and once an idea get's in their head, it may become impossible to remove."

"Does all this apply to the Ancient we are going to see tomorrow?" Gannon inquired thoughtfully. He could hear Keme making her way back.

"Klite has several ideas stuck in his head," Jared revealed. "Most of those were acquired early as part of curiosity. Fortunately—or unfortunately depending on one's particular viewpoint--one of them was that Alumnir as a whole need to be cared for. Of course Klite's way of caring for us will occasionally leave you bewildered as he takes a very long term view on most things."

Keme dropped her load of sticks beside the fire, "What was that?"

"Mentor was telling me that he has no idea what's going to happen tomorrow," Gannon summed everything up neatly.

Jared shot him one of his notorious looks then said almost as an afterthought, "if you keep up the wise cracks, I'll make you tell your story first."

All three of the Tanthris turned their attention to the top of the hill. "It's gone," Keme noted aloud.

"It appears gone," Jared corrected. "We'll be expected tomorrow."

The next day saw them up and over three more increasingly large hills and along an unnaturally flat ridgeline that had to have once been a fortification or city. All three Tanthris could feel the difference in the soil beneath their feet. "What was this place," Keme finally asked.

"It was the Seat of MacDrennan," Jared illuminated knowledgeably. "His father built the city to be near the Ancient and learn from its wisdom."

"By MacDrennan's time the people had begun to worship the Ancient. He did nothing to discourage it, but Klite was truly vexed by the behavior," Jared continued. "The old dragon decided to throw a pebble in the form of a young man named Cym. The dragon told him a story from near the beginning of time, and Cym was changed forever. He was the original founder of the Dioclete."

"But I thought..." Keme began to interrupt.

"Klite prefers humble men with honest intentions," Jared ran over her objection. "Within fifteen orbits the city was thrown down. Klite burned what was left, and no one has ever built within five highstrides of his home since."

"So Klite killed everyone?" Keme asked wide-eyed.

"The Ancient doesn't see it that way," Jared clarified. "The Dioclete killed those who resisted and banished the rest. Klite merely nudged them in the 'right' direction."

They were quiet for the short time it took to climb to the top of the next hill. Thiel was setting as they reached the crest, so they paused for a bite to eat. Athiel shone down from the northeastern sky illuminating the nearby clearing in a silvery-blue light and casting long shadows from the few silvery pillars still standing. Several other silvery pillars lay fallen in the swaying grass like ghost ships cast adrift in a green sea. Many had inscriptions, but they were just a touch too far to read. A small brook ran along one side bubbling gently over the broken stones and exiting out toward the southeast. All of this surrounded an unusually wide well rimmed in actium perhaps half a stride off the ground and was obviously the purpose of everything around it.

Keme finished first and was absolutely chomping at the bit to get down to the clearing. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" she urged.

Jared took another bite of day-old bread and chewed slowly. He swallowed then instructed softly, "Patience, young one. We are about to speak with the oldest living thing in all of Alum. A few tenths will make very little difference in his mind. This way he can see us here and know we're not threatening him in any way."

They chatted for another tenth then noisily made their way through the undergrowth down to the clearing. A cool breeze danced around them as they crossed the gentle brook and set foot into the clearing. Keme traced her fingers along a pillar as Jared led them toward the central well. When they reached it, Gannon looked over the side into the inky darkness. The light of Athiel didn't penetrate very far.

"Hello?" Gannon questioned the darkness. He felt a disturbance rumble through the ground under his feet and stepped back from the edge. "He heard me."

Keme followed his lead and also stepped back, her hand reaching for his but not finding it. She seemed to be entirely focused in trying to look through the ground. Jared backed up suddenly a moment later. He must have seen the Ancient lower down in the well.

The dragon placed two claws at the top of the well and then stuck an angular, silvery head perhaps twice the size of Gannon's torso up to look around. A pink tongue flicked out once from under the silver scales. "What took you so long?" the ancient hissed.

Jared ignored Gannon's stare and took a moment to find the right words, "I was not under the impression that..."

"I went out of my way to frighten a local into delivering a message," Klite reprimanded the Rogue Hunter. "I reasoned that you would take significant impetus from that alone. We still must make the customary exchange, but I'm afraid I will have to skimp on some of the finer details if you are to be able to react in time. Please, have a seat on one of the pillars and make yourselves comfortable."

The three Tanthris moved to a pillar and watched as Klite climbed from the well. The Ancient had six powerful legs and thick tail that doubled his already impressive length. His body was nearly as wide around as Gannon was tall, but he moved all this with a dangerous grace and speed that should have been impossible.

"First, speak truth," The dragon commanded ritualistically. "You may begin, Jared."

Jared took a moment to consider his words and decided to relate the recent events in Cycross to Klite who nodded knowledgably throughout. Gannon never knew his mentor could be so expressive. The sarcasm and subtle hinting disappeared from his voice and even his hands moved expressively. Jared had Gannon show the scars from the tunnel incident and even mentioned the poor seamstress they had tied up in the dungeon. The dragon seemed to think that was an important detail.

The Ancient smiled an open-mouthed dragon grin at the conclusion. His eyes shifted to Gannon and soon the young Tanthris found himself telling about his time on Morbius. It seemed the dragon was quite familiar with the geography and biology of the cursed island as he nodded thoughtfully. Then, it was Keme's turn to tell a true story.

She struggled at first trying to find a theme for the tale but ended up explaining how and why she had come to work for Glacius. Gannon learned the details a little better this time through and closed his eyes just to hear her voice more clearly. He was disappointed when it came to the end with "...and, now, here I am."

The Ancient looked up as Athiel slid into the early stages of eclipse and the stars began to shine in the heavens. "Look," he urged the Tanthris. Gannon looked up at the tiny pinpricks of light dotting the velvet sky and tried very hard suppress an instinctive panic. The denizens of The Tower preferred Athiel to dominate the darkening sky. The more stars you could see, the farther from home you were.

Stars were bearers of ill-omens. They wandered about the sky when Athiel held its post as guard over Choaradar. Even as children, the stars in the literature and stories they passed on within The Tower held them to be trickster shadowed intent on deceiving the world, or jealous creatures of lesser light that hungrily spied on the world below. The greater stars that could be seen even with Athiel full in the sky had names that inspired dread in every tower-born child, and were associated with the vilest of the shadowed or those men who had marked Alum for ill.

The stars twinkled slyly as they held their cold lanterns in the dark sky above. They shined but gave no light, glowed but gave no heat. And then, one them swelled and exploded.

The darkening sky quickly grew to a pale twilight color that brightened and seemed to waver near half the light of day casting a brand new set of shifting shadows across the clearing. "I'm pleased you made it in time," Klite stated flatly then turned his attention back to Jared as the star shine made his silvery scales glimmer. "Do you know what this means?"

"It doesn't mean anything," Jared answered skeptically.

"Yes and no," Klite hissed. "Of itself, you are correct. It means nothing more than that a star has perished. But, the Alumnir will say it means all kinds of things, mostly to suit their selfish purposes. Perception, as I'm sure Glacius was apt to remind you, is reality. Even now, plots are being set into motion that will change the course of Alum if allowed to continue unchecked. I don't believe I've told anyone in this generation the story of Keiji the Unspeakable."

The Ancient launched into his tale as the star shine shimmered above them casting a second shadow everywhere their eyes fell, "There was once a beautiful young princess named Sayuri who was heir to the throne of the town the Gileadans call Libri. Back then, Namiyoshi was a much smaller town situated on the hill above the Sumito River flowing down from the Misty Mountains. Her father, Taroryu, ruled all the land to the west of the river and was known to be a powerful yet good king. His nobles craved his power, but none would dare rise against him."

"One of the lesser nobles, a young warrior named Keiji, plotted against his master. His armsmen captured a thief in his village and due to the odd circumstances surrounding the capture, Keiji had the thief brought before him. He had been planning to take the thief's hand, but he was suddenly taken by an idea. Keiji had the thief held in prison for a night so he could consider his decision. The next day Keiji went down to the thief and had him cleansed, and dressed in his own clothes. The man's hair was cut and a ring was put on his finger. Needless to say, the thief was terrified."

"Keiji spoke kindly but firmly to the thief. But, the kindness came at a price. The thief must steal Sayuri away from the castle she was being fostered at and bring her secretly to Keiji at his fortress near the edge of the Misty Mountains. He even promised to treat the young princess well and raise her as he would his own daughter. The thief accepted and Alum was changed forever," Klite said sadly.

"The thief appeared in Wataru's court where young Sayuri was being educated. He succeeded in winning the noble to his side by fair speech and courageous acts. He honestly saved Wataru's youngest son from certain drowning in the river and distinguished himself in a small border skirmish. Soon after that, the thief was free to come and go as he pleased. And it pleased him to send the princess to Keiji by her own freewill through a subtle deceit to see the common people. Thus, the thief was above suspicion when the girl was reported missing, and he vowed to search for her until she was found."

"The tale of the two's erratic and eventful travel up the Sumito River must be left for another day," Klite lamented, "for there is limited time. "Suffice to say they came together to Keiji who secretly kept the girl and pampered her beyond all reason. He poisoned her opinion of all others and denied her nothing she requested beyond the freedom to venture south on the river. It was not long before she became a spoiled wretch of a young lady who indulged in whatever took her fancy. Eight orbits later, the thief dragged her kicking and screaming back to her father in Namiyoshi. He was overjoyed that she had returned to him alive, and the thief was given great wealth for his tenacity (he had a made a show of looking through the countryside for her over the orbits).

The thief quickly disappeared, and when his deeds were finally revealed, became a faceless villain of history, but his story did not end there. He wandered in the Misty Mountains for many orbits. He eventually repented of his deeds when he saw what had become of the kingdom he had come to love and gave his wealth away to those in need. His heart truly turned and he swore to restore the peace and requested that his name be forgotten. For now, his story is done."

"Sayuri might have been initially welcome back in the castle, but she soon wore out her welcome with fits of rage, abuse of the servants, and the ill treatment of any suitor not handsome enough to her liking. She acted out the very definitions of rude and crude. Her heart was haughty and she showed respect to no one. She even murdered her two younger brothers in their sleep and her older brother with an assassin's blade."

"When the last brother died, the nobles realized their position and began to jockey for power. The shrill, screaming princess wouldn't survive her father's death. Even before the end the nobles began to muster their armies and strengthen their claims. The first to rise up was Keiji. He took the castle while visiting as a guest and then took the princess' head when she ran to him for safety. Taroryu escaped out a secret gate and was accepted into the home of a loyal noble."

"Keiji proved too weak. Some say he moved too soon. Others say not soon enough. He died in battle within the orbit as all of southern Kadorach fell into civil war. The war spread quickly as other small kingdoms saw opportunity and pounced on their distracted rivals. It was nearly two hundred orbits before the efforts of Katsuri Noto, a descendant of the repentant thief, finally descended from the Misty Mountains, united the peasants of southern Kadorach, and dispensed with the warlords. The peasant kings, as they are called, ruled for five generations, but the ripples of the conflict are still felt today," the Ancient concluded.

Keme looked back up at the Cho-Frinnir, "what's the lesson in that?"

"There are several," the Ancient hissed. "Many of which are applicable today. I will, however, note two interesting coincidences. A young girl from Namiyoshi named Sayuri is currently fostering at Illumina Castle." That brought Jared to his feet. "And, there was star shine like there is this darkening when the thief was caught in Keiji's town," the Cho-Frinnir observed ominously. "History repeats itself in numerous and varied ways, but in one thing it tends to be is consistent. Like ripples in a pool, it always seems to involve more people."

The Cho-Frinnir paused and considered his next words for several minutes as the Tanthris looked at each other wondering if they should go. When he finally spoke again it was directly to Gannon, "You are a brilliant star, young Gannon. But someday even you will be eclipsed by one who shines brighter still."

"What does that mean?!" Gannon protested.

"Whatever you choose it to mean," the Ancient hinted mysteriously. Then the six-legged dragon turned to Jared, "You would ask me how much time you have. I can see it in your eyes. The answer is less than you'd like, more than you need, but not in any way you might hope."

"Keme," the dragon continued in the same tone, "It was so nice of you to volunteer to be the sacrifice. I haven't eaten in quite some time."

"What?!" Keme exclaimed as she jumped to her feet.

"Do run," Klite urged her calmly, "It helps get the blood flowing and brings out your taste... I jest. Sit down. The look of sheer terror in your eyes was priceless." The Cho-Frinnir's mouth hung open in a grin.

"That, that wasn't very nice," Keme said weakly as she eased herself back down still trembling.

"And for your trouble I will answer your next question," the dragon graciously offered.

Keme thought for a moment, stole a secret glance at the handsome and considerate young Tanthris beside her, and asked, "Who am I going to marry?"

"Not the young man over there," Klite replied a bit flippantly. "That was the best you could do? Really?"

"You didn't answer my question!" Keme complained.

"I said I would answer your next question, not the answer the next question you asked," the Ancient gently teased.

"You're still toying with me, you big brute," Keme shot back argumentively.

"Three, yes, eventually, but not like you think," Klite calmly stated.

"Stop that!" Keme shouted.

"Do you have any more questions?"

"No!"

"In a few orbits."

"You're impossible!" Keme stamped her foot on the ground and stomped off to the other side of the clearing.

"You were just making things up," Gannon accused the chuckling Cho-Frinnir.

Klite became suddenly serious, "How would you know?"

"I just do," Gannon challenged.

"Consider all that statement entails," Klite hissed as focused his gaze on the young Tanthris. "Bring me back a story," the Ancient said before turning back to Jared.

"Pebbles?" Jared asked.

"Pebbles," Klite confirmed slyly.

# Fighting for a Job

### The Adventures of Gannon Skyborn, Volume IV

" _The unique geography of the shallows to the west of Tira lends them a certain mystique. With that in mind, it is simply unforgivable that being so close, so few adventures have ever bothered to investigate. Of course, it could also simply be that those who have, simply never come back."_

\---- Janiciras Lightheart, Guild Master of Adventurers Guild in "Mysteries of the Known World"

"But I want to go with you!" the young, female Tanthris protested. Her beautiful purple hair shook with the intensity of her plea.

"No," Jared stated flatly. "Glacius needs you back here to help mind the office. He's already invested so much in you that it would be a shame if the ship went down and you with it."

"But, you're taking your apprentice!" the purple-eyed girl continued to challenge him.

"He's hardly been with me that long," Jared explained with unnatural sereneness. "And besides, he's expendable."

"Hey!" Gannon protested as he caught the last few words.

"You are," Jared had just the faintest hint of an apology in his voice.

"Just because it will take the builders thousands more orbits to reach Athiel does not mean we discourage them," Gannon beseeched his mentor.

"That is a very apt analogy, my young apprentice," Jared rubbed at his chin on the border line between teasing and reflecting. Gannon scowled. "If I don't keep you humble, who else will," Jared turned his attention back to his apprentice from wherever it had been.

"I'm trying to volunteer for that position," Keme reinserted herself into the conversation.

"No," The master Rouge Hunter replied out of hand.

"You can't stop me," Keme warned the mentor.

"If you insist in following this fanciful delusion of yours," Jared stated levelly, "I shall be forced to bind you with rope and leave you in some dark room for Glacius to discover. "

"You would never do that," she narrowed her purple eyes daring him to prove her wrong.

"You wouldn't be the first," Jared began to turn away in an attempt to end the conversation. Keme stole a glance at Gannon who gently nodded affirmation to the disbelieving young lady.

"I'm heading down to the dock to see if I can't find something headed toward Render," Jared announced as he exited. "Meet me with all our gear at the Salty Copper in two Tenths."

"Yes, Mentor."

Keme sat down in a moment of shock, and Jared promptly exited leaving his apprentice behind to sweep up the damage. She waited stiffly as the sound of his boots disappeared toward the main street. Her slender hands rested limply together in her lap, and she stared listlessly at the wall. Gannon reasoned the taste of adventure that the dragon had... so graciously provided had thoroughly infected her. She wouldn't last as the receptionist long.

Gannon took a step back when the life seemed to suddenly return to her face. She looked up at him hopefully from her seat in the wooden chair. "You can help me," the zeal of her entreaty could have singed the air between them.

"I like you, Keme," Gannon tried to calm her, "But my mentor would kill me."

"Don't you want me to come with you?" Keme pleaded as sweetly as she knew how. The cutest kitten had nothing on those beseeching eyes.

"Yes, I would..." Gannon stammered.

"Then help me," Keme took his hands in hers and urged. Gannon gritted his teeth and looked like he was about to object. That might have been dangerous. "Jared doesn't have to know you helped me get on board. Just tell me which ship and when it is leaving. I'm a grown lady. I can take care of the rest."

"This is a really bad idea," Gannon countered, but Keme could see in his eyes he was wavering.

"Please, please, please," she tugged on his hands and begged. "I will not be a problem. I just want to see a bit of Alum... and maybe a bit more of you... both"

"There are storms at sea. You could die," Gannon forced himself to ignore the incredibly persuasive entreaty and tried to dissuade her. "For all I know, he intends to chance the sea sands to save time. Do you really want to be out there in the water with who knows what dragging a ship over the sand?" It was a bit of a stretch, but he was pressed for ideas.

"There be nothing there but the shallows themselves," Keme dismissed the possibility as remote at best. "At worst it would be something to see."

"Are you not at least worried about pirates?" Gannon tried another tack.

"I'd have you around to protect me," Keme stated confidently.

"My mentor would kill me," Gannon tried his last argument.

"You'd be able to listen to my stories for a few weeks," she released his hands and smiled up at him hopefully with her beautiful purple eyes.

"If you tell him anything," Gannon warned as he ran a hand nervously over his spiky blue hair.

"Yes, yes, you'll die," Keme's grin widened as the last of his defenses crumbled to dust.

About three tenths later, Gannon leaned nonchalantly against the front of a warehouse on the water front. The protected bay was only moderately busy, and it seemed there were more stout blonde dockworkers lazing about than actually moving anything. Athiel was not yet into eclipse and the sea breeze blew in coolly from the water. It was a very pleasant darkening.

"Hey, Gannon," whispered Keme's voice from the narrow alley beside him. "It's me."

"The name of the ship is the Adel," Gannon whispered back through the side of his mouth. "It's at dock twenty-one. We're going over the sea sands. Are you sure you still want to come?" Gannon warned her quietly.

"Of course I do," Keme whispered back harshly. "When does it leave?"

Gannon paused to draw breath. This wasn't going to end well. He waited a little longer.

"Are you not going to tell me when it's set to leave?" Keme questioned a bit urgently.

"I am sorry Keme, I cannot do that," Gannon answered sadly as Keme was grabbed from behind. "I truly am really sorry about this," Gannon apologized. He stepped around the corner where she could see him and pulled out a handkerchief. Then, he unstopped a small vial and put a few drops into the handkerchief. "I was really hoping you would change your mind. My mentor and I did not want to do this." Keme struggled against the iron grip and tried unsuccessfully to stomp the toes of her massive blonde captor several times before Gannon lifted the handkerchief to her face and everything went dark.

Keme woke up in the underground section of the garden shed. She was lying on her side and tied quite securely to a wooden plank by a rather unreasonable amount of rope. There was a gag in her mouth that tasted faintly of mint. Gannon had left a candle burning in the corner for some light and a note on the floor beside her in his elegant flowing script.

Dear Keme,

I am very sorry it came to this. I really do like you, but my mentor would accept none of your arguments. Please, be aware we have treated you with the utmost dignity and regard for your person. My mentor got to me and it is impossible to hide anything from him. I am afraid I had no choice but to go along with his plans. Do not worry, a note will be sent to Glacius after we have departed to deliver you from your present predicament. I have done my best to make you as cozy as I know how.

Best wishes,

Gannon Skyborn

When she caught up with him again, that young man would hear a piece of her mind; his mentor too for that matter.

_______

Gannon hung over the back rail of the coastal schooner, _Adel_. He hadn't fed the fishes anything extra for almost a tenth now. Whether that was because there was simply nothing left in his stomach or because he was getting used the continual rocking was yet to be determined. Jared hung over the rail beside him not looking any better.

"Did we really have to do that?" Gannnon asked as he squnched his eyes together to keep the glare off the water from adding to his misery. "She could have distracted us from... this," Gannon motioned to the beautiful day around them, "with her stories and, and her voice. And, she was cute too."

"That's exactly what she would have been..." Jared lurched and emptied his stomach a little more. His stomach was running on empty too, "distracting." The Rogue Hunter wiped the spittle off his lips with a sleeve. "We would have been helpless."

"Right this second, mentor," Gannon stated miserably, "I would not care."

One of the mates, John or maybe Eric—they both looked alike—stepped around the corner of the main cabin with a concerned look on his face. "Hunters," he began cautiously wringing a wool cap in his hands, "I'm afraid there be a bit of a blow on its way. You'll be needing to go inside about a tenth from now."

Gannon pulled himself along the rail and gazed around the side of the deck house. Sure enough, dark clouds were building on the horizon. "We aren't going to duck into some protective cove along the coast?" Jared asked hopefully.

"There is a reason there's such a port as Rie," the mate, probably John, explained graciously. "There are too many rocks even for such a boat as this. The storm can't be that bad," he tried to reassure them. "The waves have hardly picked up at all."

A tenth later the two Tanthris huddled together in the lower rear cabin with several other passengers including the adventurer, Trophis, and his henchmen, most of whom were enjoying the rolling of the ship and trading jokes with each other. Jared was beyond help, but Gannon studied them to forget his misery.

The southlander, a brute of a man who had to duck when inside the cabins, had helped out with Keme and provided the muscle. Gannon didn't think he had heard his name, yet. A slant-eyed Kadorian swordsman, Rin, dressed in flowing silks was a passable poet from what Gannon had heard. He served as the second in command. Gannon had learned he could read and write in four languages. The requisite Genhari observer was a dour gentleman with dark hair and a reclusive temperament. He hardly said anything, but he heard everything. Gannon didn't even know his name.

A boy of perhaps ten orbits and just finding his man's voice served as a squire of sorts attending to Trophis' needs and generally being helpful. Brad was already wise beyond his years and showed signs of varied schooling. Right this moment a dark-skinned Hazir with green almond eyes named Jabesh was practicing Haramothite with him.

The ensemble was completed by Teresa, a pale-faced singer and musician likely of Daradrakian heritage. She was playing inexpertly on her half harp even now. The willowy, waif of a middle age woman was missing every ninth or tenth note causing Gannon to cringe as she played. There had to be another reason she was along. Her beauty was fading and it certainly wasn't for her musical talent.

Trophis stood up and glided across the pitching floor to sit down beside Gannon. This obviously wasn't his first storm.

Gannon spoke first, "I am surprised you are not out on the deck enjoying the storm."

"This little squall?" Trophis threw out his large hands expansively. "I've seen much worse rounding the southern edge of Morbius and sailing The Waters on a prison run to Norta Isla. It's not even worth going outside to look. You two don't seem to be faring all that well," he pointed out with genuine concern in his voice.

"Neither of us care much for sailing," Gannon explained, "but it seems like we never have much choice."

"I puked my guts out on my first three voyages," Trophis offered with a smile. "You will eventually get used to it... unless you don't. I once ran into a captain out of Namiyoshi who would spend the first few tenths of every voyage in his cabin emptying his stomach into a bucket. Did your mentor tell you why I decided to bring you two along?"

"Usually he lets me figure stuff out on my own," Gannon sighed.

"I'll save you the trouble," Trophis patted him on the back. "I'll be needing you two to help feel a channel through the sea sands. Of course, we'll be exploring them and taking samples and such. With luck we'll even stumble across Visage."

"The fabled... and infamous shifting island and home to who-knows-what?"

"That's the place," Trophis chimed. "I would love to get a sample of the sand and see what grows there. And, if we can find it, then it won't be fabled anymore... at least to us." Trophis beamed.

"You're crazy. You know that, do you not?" Gannon alleged.

"No, I'm not," Trophis grinned, slapped Gannon on the back, and stood up, "I'm wealthy. That makes me eccentric."

"I'm going die," Gannon mumbled to himself as Trophis moved on to talk with Rin.

_______

The storm did pass, and Gannon's stomach decided that the sea wasn't so bad after all. The weather became downright balmy and the wind kept up from the southwest pushing them hurriedly along. Gannon spoke with the Adventurer and his band of misfits to pass the time. Even the dour Genhari observer eventually opened up.

"And that, my dear Rogue Hunter, with no more than my than my name, is how we tricked Aarchaseth into letting us through the Northeast Passage," Trophis pronounced proudly.

The Genhari observer lets him stand confidently on the final assertion for an impressive five, maybe as many as six seconds before he opened his mouth to throw cold water, yet again, on another fearsome tale, "Aarchaseth said he didn't really care that we were passing through. He was just feeling curious and wondered who we were. We've been through several times since and he usually stops in to chat. A really nice fellow if you ask me. All the Cho-Whissir ever asks for is a sheep to munch on."

Trophis looked over at his minder and sighed, "At least you let me finish the story this time."

"I was curious as to how you would spin it this time, Sir," the Genhari replied deadpan.

"All the other Adventurers get observers who love the ferocity of life and relish the chance to see the globe. It is a globe," he insisted. "I get stuck with the aptly named Quell."

"Whatever you say, Sir," the Genhari didn't necessarily agree nor disagree.

"You see what I have to put with up with?" Trophis held out his hands and shook his head in mock dismay.

"I know exactly how you feel," Gannon assured him.

_______

Jared sat atop an incredibly high perch pieced together above the main cabin looking down into the crystal blue water of the sea sands. He also had a bucket beside him as a reminder that he was still mortal. Several of the crew were pulling on oars, and a small scrap of sail provided additional locomotion. The glassy sea became shallower and shallower.

Gannon sat on a small chair at the front and felt the way forward with his sixth sense trying to keep to the deeper channels. He called out instructions in his clear tenor voice. His mind drifted back to Keme occasionally as he worked. He missed her... a lot. Her beautiful accent was impossible to get out of his head. He hoped she was doing well.

His thoughts were disturbed by a call from his mentor up top, "You might want to look out to port."

Gannon opened his eyes and spied the large ray lounging in the shallows moments before he picked it out with his sixth sense. There was a school of brightly colored fish farther away that caught the light when they turned. "There is definitely life out here," Gannon concluded aloud not actually expecting anyone to hear him.

"Indeed," Trophis cooed, stepping up beside him. His eyes were wide with the simple joy of breathing. "Another ray?"

"And some small fish," Gannon answered affirmatively.

"Lovely creatures," Trophis mused aloud. "But there are other things that taste better and put up less fight."

"Starboard twenty degrees!" Gannon called back as he felt the channel shift. "I would not know," he replied to Trophis' statement, "But I appreciate the warning. Anything else I should know?"

"Charconis reported a run-in with Cho-Icthius some twenty orbits ago," Trophis revealed happily.

"Some kind of water dragon?"

"More or less," Trophis confirmed. "He reportedly glimpsed it at a distance. It never approached his boat. I would consider this voyage a complete success for a similar opportunity. There have been reported sightings of a Cho-Icthius every so often for orbit upon orbit, but no one has ever reported seeing one up close, or even been able to produce a detailed sketch. I wonder why?" Gannon had several ideas, none of them comforting.

_______

Gannon jumped off the bow and into the water, again, for the sixth time in as many days. The water was comparatively warm, and no breeze bothered to dip down from above to disturb it. The Tanthris could watch the ripples from his entry scatter out across the placid sea. With the oppressive heat he didn't complain that much even with the water halfway up his chest.

The young apprentice reached back and grabbed the tow line as several other crewmen dismounted into the water along with the massive southern brute. He could feel the next channel ahead of them perhaps twenty strides or so. Behind him, the crew lowered several small boats into the water loaded with supply barrels to help lighten the load.

The group began pulling and shoving the boat over shallows as the captain called out cadence from above. Several of the oarsman were using the oars to push as well. Gannon could feel the vibration of the ship's keel scraping over the fine sand. A small cloud of it fanned out to the sides. The struggle lasted about half a tenth before the ship clawed its way into another channel just deep enough to leave a handbreadth's space between the keel and the sand.

Pleasant as the cool water was, Gannon decided to trudge ahead of the boat on foot pulling gently on the guide rope. The water reached to his neck cooling him as he worked. It was better than baking on the deck and he could feel the shallows a little better being already in the tropical water. He led the way for another full tenth before the channel became too deep to walk.

Two days later he was trudging through the shallows again pulling on the familiar rope when Jared called out from above, "Land! Port twenty degrees!"

Gannon was too low in the water to see anything. He stopped and searched for a channel heading that general direction guessing correctly that Trophis would want to see it. Five minutes later he was guiding the ship toward whatever Jared had seen, humming as he went, and wishing Keme was there with him to help stave off the monotony.

Perhaps a highstride away the water became too shallow to advance the boat any further without getting it stuck at low tide. Gannon happily clambered back aboard and changed into a dry shirt for the row out to the island in one of the small boats Trophis had cleared out for the expedition. Teresa and Rin were already waiting in it with the southern brute at the oars.

"I'll stay up here and keep watch," Jared called down from his perch far above the placid sea. He leaned over his bucket a moment later. He, then, wiped his mouth on his sleeve and waved them on.

"You just refuse to get wet," Gannon called back snidely before climbing down into the rowboat. It was funny how his mentor was doing better up on the perch than the back of the boat, even if it was only marginally so. Despite his jab, he still felt a touch a pity for the older Tanthris. "Let's go," he instructed the adventurers.

It was a deceptively long row out of the shifting isle, and they hit bottom while still an invigorating walk away from the shore. Gannon hopped out into the calf deep water and was surprised when the others followed before he could taunt them about not wanting to get their feet wet. The group all worked together to drag the boat forward until they felt reasonably sure it wasn't going drift away even if the beach was still some distance. Then, they pulled various tools and implements out for the trip to the beach.

"We've found it!" proclaimed Trophis excitedly as he sloshed onto the dry-ish sand and looked around. The beach extended about half a highstride in most directions and might have been a third of a stride above the water at low tide. "Brute, go in a ways and take a sample of the sand," Trophis ordered delightedly.

"I have a name," the southerner complained in exasperation as he lifted a shovel and started walking.

"Yes, but it doesn't matter. We have _science_ to do!" Trophis beamed like a kid in a candy store. "Rin, help me take measurements. You there," he motioned to Gannon, "See if you can't find any examples of wildlife or fauna."

"Fauna?"

"Anything that grows," Trophis explained with a wave of his hand. "You may have to dig." Gannon nodded and decided to follow the hulking southerner.

He caught up with the grumbling brute a few moments later and took the shovel off the big man's hands. They continued in relative silence to the approximate center of the island. Gannon looked back and waved to Jared on his perch in the distance. Jared waved back and then leaned over his bucket again.

"This looks like as good a place as any," the southerner announced and set down the small chest he was carrying. Gannon nodded and started digging while the brute opened the chest. He pulled out a series of smaller balsa wood boxes and set them on the ground beside it. "Throw a shovelful in one of these, will you," he requested.

Gannon obliged and kept digging just to see if he could find anything. As he got deeper water began to fill the hole, but he did find a clam, seashells, and some loose coral near the bottom. They all went into the boxes and back into the chest. Gannon felt an odd thump the next time the shovel went down so reached into the hole to see whatever it was he had struck.

His hand found something hard and round that took a little effort to remove. "Got it," he smiled as he finally worked it free and began to lift it out of the silty water.

"That's a thigh bone," the southerner observed somewhat dispassionately while Gannon turned it over in is hand.

"I can see that," the Tanthis replied somewhat confused. He reached out intentionally with his sixth sense into the sand and took several steps back.

"What is it?" the big man asked a bit alarmed. He started looking around as if expecting some kind of attack.

"There is a bone yard down there," Gannon explained. "Lots of them. Probably half a town's worth."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"You realize that if we tell this to Trophis, he's going to send us back here to dig," the brute cautioned.

"Just throw the bone in the chest," Gannon suggested. "He can ask about it later."

The southerner considered that for a moment and nodded. "Let's go dig somewhere else."

Gannon directed them back toward Trophis and Rin, and more importantly the boat. They had set up several tripods and were busy taking various kinds of measurements. Teresa hovered nearby taking notes in a small book. "How about here," Gannon nodded at the ground still a bit away from the other three.

"Looks as good a place as any to me."

The apprentice started shoveling and dislodged a few crabs who tried to burrow back into the fine sand or scurry away. The southerner caught one in a tiny lidded box and set it back inside the chest. There wasn't any fauna. That actually disappointed Gannon a little bit.

Something caught Gannon's eye as he was examining his handiwork and he looked up to see Jared urgently waving and pointing. He twisted his head in the direction and immediately noticed the bunched up ripples approaching. "Time to leave, gentlemen," Gannon announced as he hurried with the southerner towards the other three. "Something's coming this way. Really, we need to leave."

"Excellent," Trophis clapped his hands together as Rin and Teresa traded nervous looks and started packing up as quickly as they knew how. "Perhaps we can get a close look at this guardian of Visage. If it chooses to stick around a while, we should be able to make a fairly accurate sketch. Teresa, could you do that for me?"

"I will gladly draw whatever you like... from the boat," she replied as she secured a tripod's legs. "Can we go?"

Trophis appeared indecisive, so Gannon figured he had better add information, "There's a whole bunch of bones buried in the sand back there. Human bones."

"You're telling me that only now? I should have liked for you to dig around a little more, so I could have had a better look," Trophis sounded mildly offended.

The southerner looked at Gannon with, "I told you so," written all over his face.

"We need to leave, now," Gannon reiterated as calmly as he could. The ripples were getting closer. The southerner didn't wait for an order. He put the chest over his shoulder and made for the boat with the shovel clutched tightly in his other hand. "Look!" Gannon directed the adventure's attention out toward the approaching ripples. The expression of glee in the adventure's eyes was all Gannon needed to see. He hurried after the brute.

Teresa and Rin collected the tripods in their arms and were splashing behind Gannon a moment later. Rin stopped, slowed really, and called back, "Sir, we really should go." The adventurer kept his eyes focused on the ripples moving toward them down the beach. "Sir," Rin tried again in his soft Kadorian accent, "You might have a better view from the boat."

Trophis shook himself out his fascinated stupor as the others dropped their gear hurriedly into the rowboat and started pushing it off the sandbar. The adventurer turned and lifted his legs for great speed through the shallows to the row boat. The ripples grew closer and Gannon could see the thin dark creature beneath the surface of the water kicking up a silty mess behind it. They were going to have to confront it some way or another before they made it back to the main boat.

"Pass me the shovel," Gannon instructed the southerner who instinctively obeyed the voice of command. The Tanthris took the shovel in both hands and turned in the knee deep water to face the approaching creature. Trophis splashed past him a moment later and lent his strength to pushing the boat out to deeper water. It was still faster than paddling at this point.

The ripples closed in, and a long snake-like back with a rigid center fin running the exposed length of its body broke the surface of the placid water. Gannon tightened his grip on the shovel as the creature bore in towards him. A nice heavy sword would have been better, but beggars can't be choosers.

The snake-like creature leaped out of the water at him, jaws wide open revealing several teeth as long as his hand and the rest not that much shorter. Gannon dodged to the side and hammered it aside with the flat edge of the shovel. It fell back into the water with a heavy splash and the next three strides of it slipped past Gannon stirring up the sand beneath. He absently wondered what he had done to initially upset it. Maybe it was just hungry.

Gannon kept his sixth sense on the creature and felt it turn back around. _High or low?_ The Tanthris held his ready stance, his shovel forward and prepared. This time it came for his legs. He leapt out of the water and dropped such a heavy blow on its serpentine head that it seemed to hesitate a moment from the hit before it flowed past in somewhat jerky motions. The others had all climbed into the row boat and were already halfway to the main boat. So much for a rescue party.

The water snake, or water dragon, or Cho-Icthius, or whatever it was circled unsteadily out in the somewhat deeper water as if pondering how best to continue its attack. Gannon could see a little blood floating in the water where it moved. The only thing he was sure about, now, was that it was angry.

The waiting lasted almost a full two minutes which the adventures used to get back into the main boat. Most of the crew stood on the side watching Gannon to see if he would get eaten. He had not endured his apprenticeship under Jared just to become a choice morsel in the middle of this geographical anomaly. Besides, he really did want to listen to Keme again. It was around then that the creature made another move towards him.

He closed his eyes and felt it approach more cautiously this time. He opened his eyes as the creature drew the first stride of itself out of the water. The double lidded eyes regarded him intelligently from the sand –colored, serpentine head. Its underside was a light blue. The creature paused just out of striking range and began to circle him warily. Gannon closed his eyes again so he could feel the whole of it and not be distracted by what his eyes could see. He turned slowly to keep his shovel between himself and the long teeth.

He felt the tail moving up behind him and feinted with his shovel. The creature pulled its tail back out of range and continued to observe him as it circled. Trophis was probably loving this and would consider the whole adventure a success whether Gannon lived or died. He could almost picture the adventurer toasting him in memory as he told the story.

"I do not want any trouble," Gannon said softly. I just want to leave."

The circling continued and Gannon had to feint once more as it moved even more uncomfortably closer than it already was. "Just leave us be. We have what we want," Gannon continued to talk soothingly.

The creature cocked its head ever so slightly at his words. It seemed to hear, but he doubted it understood. It did hiss back him for whatever that was worth.

"Just let me go on my way," Gannon urged the creature keeping his words soft and soothing. "I have no desire to fight. I am not even carrying a sword."

The creature hissed again. It wasn't attacking so Gannon decided to keep up the gentle patter of words expressing his intense desire to leave. He noticed the creature change the circle around him again. This time instead of feinting with the shovel, he moved to the center, which pushed him farther away from the island. It hissed and they repeated the motion.

The creature abandoned its circling of the apprentice and instead twisted back and forth between him and shoreline. Gannon got the idea and began backing up into steadily deeper water. It wasn't too much longer that it was up to his waist and he had a difficult decision to make.

Gannon stood his ground for a long moment and the creature hissed at him again and pushed a little bit closer, but still carefully out of the range of Gannon's shovel. Gannon met its eyes and kept talking softly, quite unwilling to give up any more precious ground as any deeper and he would lose the ability to defend himself. The standoff lasted nearly ten minutes.

Finally, the creature seemed to realize what Gannon wanted and it backed up toward the island keeping between it and Gannon. The apprentice took another step back toward the boat and the creature moved back a little farther. This continued until Gannon made it to the side of the main boat and was pulled up by the southerner and one of the crew. He slumped down on the deck as his adrenaline finally fled his system and leaned against the deck house.

Jared climbed down from his perch to check on him leaving Rin to the duty. "You're still alive." He might have been ever so slightly disappointed the way he said it.

"Apparently," Gannon answered. His voice was loaded with exhaustion. "I was in significant doubt that I was going to make it there for a moment." The crew was putting up the sail to move away from the island.

"You realize you're an idiot," Jared reprimanded him sounding somewhat annoyed. "You took a shovel, a shovel mind you, and put yourself between that thing and the others. Now I have to put you in for some kind award for saving the life of those... adventurers. Do you have any idea all the paperwork you just created for me? I'm not even going to start on the eyewitness account that Trophis will demand from you, and I will insist on it so I don't get laughed out of the room when I present the former." Straight face through it all; no smile, no twitch at the corner of his mouth, not even a brightening of the eyes.

"I'll do everything I can to help, Mentor," Gannon offered and leaned his head back against the wood.

Jared looked down his apprentice with only the faintest hint of disapproval in his eyes. He was about to say something, probably non-complimentary, but Trophis clapped him on the back with a wide grin and sparkling eyes. Jared gagged but kept it in. "Did you see that?" the adventurer gushed. "Did you see that?! That was simply amazing! He fought with it, calmed it, and kept it above water long enough for Teresa to get a good sketch of it. Total Success! My guildmates back in Timnah will be so jealous. They might even send me down to the ice pack this time."

"This time?" Gannon inquired. "What was last time?"

"Jungle in Etz Lomah," the southerner answered. "The council wanted a live sample." He trembled but not from the chill.

"A live a sample of what?" Gannon was almost afraid to ask.

"A giant spider, my boy," Trophis boasted with a wide grin. "It's on display back in Timnah... with my name under it as the captor. I do hope it was a male..." The adventurer trailed off with a rare thoughtful expression on his face.

"Teresa was actually the one who came up with the idea," the southerner whispered in his ear. "And I had the joy of playing bait. Imagine my joy waking up after being bitten and still having my insides intact. You can see where it bit me, here," the southerner pulled his sleeve back and showed two rather large puncture scars on his shoulder.

"And you still follow him around," Gannon said in disbelief before he could consider some of the... _things_ Jared had dragged him through.

"He pays well," the southerner admitted, "And I've only nearly died twice." He stopped and thought about it then added, "okay three times, but the incident back in the Glow doesn't really count."

"You know Cannon," Trophis turned back around to address him.

"My name is Gannon."

"Whatever," Trophis waved off the mistake much as he did reality. The southerner put a hand over his face. "I could use a man like you on the team. I pay very well—you can ask the others—and everything we do is for the betterment of all. We make maps, capture specimens for the adventurer's zoo, and expand the realm of science." He said the last with the fanatic zealously of a true believer. "The offer is open and I hope you'll accept."

Gannon was almost surprised how completely un-tempting it was. Jared didn't allow him the chance to speak and firmly but calmly stated, "Gannon is my apprentice. He is a Gileadan."

"So," Trophis wasn't taking the hint. He was still lost in the ecstasy of the moment. "Teresa was a Wave King." Jared actually raised his eyebrows to that. "Rin was a Kadorian prince," the adventurer added. "And you," Trophis pointed at the southerner, "What were you, again."

"I was dockhand from South Outpost who got stuck on the ship by mischance," the hulking brute reminded him. "And my name is..."

Trophis cut him off, "Ahhh yes, now I remember. That was a bit a predicament."

"Don't remind me," the southerner looked away embarrassed.

"What happened," Gannon asked him.

"Long story," the southerner parried. "Another time."

"So, what do you say Cannon?" Trophis offered his hand. The southerner just shook his head.

"Gannon, Sir."

"Well, what do you say? A life of travel, adventure... _science_?"

# Rise of Innocents (Chapter I, VOL I of The Shadowed of Gilead)

Deals

Orbiting a star named Thiel far, far from our own sun, a world hurtles through space. A closer look might reveal a vast ocean as the dominant feature. As the rapid rotation of the small planet, Choaradar, continued, a moon, Athiel, would rise up from the blue mist. Next, a great continent, Alum, would emerge. At the equator, it would seem that a slender, silver shaft rose from the planet beneath Athiel lancing the blue haze surrounding the planet like a great spear thrown down from the small moon.

As one peered ever closer under the bluish-silver light reflecting from Athiel, movement might be discerned by the careful eye at the summit of the great spear. It would not be long before this slender shaft became a great tower, and the movement punctuated with the small pulsing lights of rather deliberate and relentless construction.

Circle down around the sparkling spire through a cage of silver beams and diligent machines. Look past the cranes, chains, and windows where figures hover upside down. Glide further still past rings of darkened windows with silence all around to a section of this tower where a lone worker might be found. Imagine, now, passing through the outer shell to a sparking room within. A woosh of sound will fill your ears, a loud exhaling separate from the din.

There, silhouetted against the flashing light a hunched body hovers ghost-like above a skeleton that is chained yet seems to hang upwards from the cold gray floor. Then, in a final spark of searing light the figure presses the brilliant source of eerie radience to the metal skeleton's chest and satisfactorily declares, "Stellar, that's the last one. You're ready for your skin now, not that it won't be much more than a sterile plastic bag. Your animator will enjoy you quite a bit. I don't think I've ever placed so many anchors. Of course, you are meant for the surgical rooms cho-ward of here."

The large person relaxes for just a moment, his face still hidden behind a rather plain glass mask, before reaching for a small metal plate suspended in the air. "Just let me attach this over your internal generator and you'll be done. You won't be needing any specific weak spots. You couldn't take much more than a hard bump, anyway. Your animator best be careful with you."

The figure rubs his heavy jaw briefly then brushes back his long bleach-blonde hair with a large, pale, and sweaty hand revealing the absence of an ear; rather it appears his "ear" is a small cavity on the side of his head partially covered by a small flap, much like a seal. "I guess it's time to make a day of it and package you for transfer. I must say that I, Kino Von Kaelic, have completed yet another premium job. I'll just sign my name on this plate here... perfect. It's a shame only another Insidis like me could animate you most effectively. I'm sure some old doc is just dying to give his life to medicine." Kino chuckled to himself at the morbid joke and raised his glass mask to reveal a youthful but heavy face. The most startling aspect, however, was his eyes. They were milky white except for the grayish circles marking his pupils. "I kill me."

Kino carefully unchained the small steel skeleton allowing it to momentarily drift gracefully before he carefully packed it into a padded metal box, one of many tied into a corner and conspicuously labeled "awaiting animation" in large, stenciled, red letters. With a gentle push off the boxes he glided across the room to flip an oversized switch, thus opening the door beside it. He pulled on another lever to flip off the lights, then he reached down to press a small button on each boot, which quickly struck down to the hard metal floor of the Upper Tower.

Kino sighed briefly, and hesitated a moment seeming to pull gently on one foot before taking a step into the passageway. Beneath him the floor was lighted with long tubular lights that Kino cautiously avoided. He kept an even pace toward the center of the spire that housed the lifts, or drops as they were sometimes called this high up in The Tower, where the gravity seemed as confused as a trainee assembler.

"Morning, Kino. What are you doing here so early?" asked a sleepy-eyed human stepping tentatively out of the lift quite literally opposite Kino and seeming to hang in the air. "And why do you persist in walking on our ceiling?" They looked at each other upside down for a moment. "You know it drives the boss crazy, and me, too, for that matter. I had to replace three of those lights last week because you stepped on them. They're on the ceiling, Kino! There's no excuse for that. Why can't you walk on the floor like everyone else?"

"Maybe I like the view from up here. Besides, it keeps me from stepping on any of your precious masterpieces," contended Kino just a bit sharply

"I wasn't the one who recycled your first pathetic attempt at an animatoid. Director Hassman did that all on his own. Not that I didn't agree with the decision. It's just that it's time for him to retire to the lower levels and let someone else take a shot at ascension," the man mumbled the last bit under his breath.

Kino paused a moment and absently scratched his clean-shaven face. "Hassman has missed ascension way too many times. He does a good job, I guess. But, I admit it would be nice if he retired so the rest of us could have a shot at moving up. I'm not disloyal to the vision, Allard. I'm just getting a bit impatient to gain some respect, like you are. Aren't you getting close to finishing your masterpiece? You've been working on that for how many orbits?"

"Seven," Allard grimaced and ran his fingernails in a line just above his ear. "It could have gotten me off this forsaken level to somewhere that actual progress is being made except Director Hassman shoved it out an outer-lock yesterday. As far as I can tell, it was incinerated upon re-entry to the atmosphere."

"That's terrible, Allard." And Kino meant it. Maybe the spiteful old Hassman really was ready to head back down to the mid-levels and work with children, not that Kino would want to be one of those unfortunates. "Don't worry about it, Allard. You'll be a lead yet, maybe even a full director. Everyone on our team knows you're the smartest person on this level. When Director Hassman finally leaves, you'll be the one to get his chair. In the meantime, we can keep playing pranks on the janitor. I think I may find a way to make one of my 'mates jump out at him. Did you know that on the lower levels they still use coils for reasons other than electricity?"

"No," Allard answered deadpan before resuming. "Hey, I need to get an early start seeing that I have seven Morbian orbits worth of catching up to do if I ever want a promotion. I guess you won't be in here until tomorrow?"

"That's right. I finished my required service for the week this morning, so I'm good till Firstday. I'm going straight to my sleeping bag." He paused a second and looked at something over Allard's shoulder. "Are you aware you have a shadowed flitting about you?"

"Oh him, yeah, Milton saw him yesterday, too. I guess he's not going anywhere." Allard glanced nervously over the wrong shoulder looking for the dark messenger as if he might see him. It was said that humans sometimes could, even if a Tanthris could walk through a room full of them unfazed. Mostly, however, humans just felt them.

"You really should talk with the chaplain and have something done about him."

"They always leave... eventually."

"Don't wait too long. Later, Allard."

"You mean early," joked Allard nervously.

Kino shook his head to clear just enough of the encroaching fogginess to navigate his way through the empty corridors and back to the sleeping quarters. He closed the lift doors behind him, and ten minutes later he had crawled into his suspended bag before anyone else in the large room had so much as dreamed about getting up.

Kino was sleeping comfortably and dreaming about being a lead himself when a strange zipper sound entered his dream and he began spinning for some unknown reason. Moments later, he was awakened by a solid thud which turned out to be his own limp body slamming into a rather solid wall.

_______

(15 orbits later)

Kino began to shake the cobwebs from his head and lifted a hand to wipe his eyes as the old nightmare slowly left him. He could still almost feel the cold steel of the cuffs as the focus officer led him away into the calming chambers. It seemed even the smell of the calming agent and the steady hum of the heavy air being pumped into the room were just as real as they had been so long ago.

He shook his head gently and coughed once involuntarily to clear his lungs. The final words still echoed in his mind beside the face of the rather serious focus officer, "Kino Von Kaelic, you are under arrest for the murder of Director Gerald Hassman. Please be cooperative."

At last, Kino opened his eyes and stumbled over to look out the bars of his plain cell so he could check the clock in the hallway. It was the middle of truenight. He turned around and trudged slowly back to his narrow bed being careful not to trip over a small pile of books. He sat down and was about to slip back under his warm blankets when a familiar oily voice intruded on his thoughts.

"I see you're awake," it stated.

"You again," remarked Kino to what might have been open air to anyone else. "I don't care how much you insist that you didn't assemble this trap for me. I'd just assume you leave me alone." And after further thought he added, "And stay out of my dreams."

"Kino, Kino," the shadowed crooned, its arms spread in mock innocence. The humanoid apparition might have been called beautiful or handsome by some, but looking at it intently made it impossible to shake the feeling that there was something not quite right. An air of imperfection seemed to subtly linger around the shadowed.

"Just leave me alone." Kino put his pale, bluish face in his oversized hands. "I'm sick of this prison. I'm so sick of it that I'm literally sick." He coughed again for emphasis and wiped the mucus off onto the standard issue dark green blanket. "I've been here fifteen orbits. FIFTEEN, MORBIAN, TREE-POISONING ORBITS!!!" The shadowed tried to look offended, but that's hard to do when someone compliments you on a job well done. "I've had no one but that psycho Travis two cells down and you to speak with for the past fifteen, POISONED ORBITS!!! Oh, and let's not forget the prison warden, he still talks about his life a hundred orbits ago when he talks at all."

"It could be worse," reasoned the shadowed in its oily tenor voice. "They could have executed you. I hear that's still policy for the soil-bound."

"Well this isn't Choaradar," retorted Kino angrily. "This is the poisoned 'Tower of Gilead where every life is sacred,'" Kino mocked the quote with every bit of sarcastic vehemence he could muster. "They haven't executed anyone since the founders established the Great Vision. I hate living like this. It's worse than death. I wish they had just killed me." Insidis, on the whole, simply did not cope well with solitary confinement.

The shadowed arched his fingertips and looked over them at a desperate Kino. "Now that you mention it... that could be arranged," he offered in a patronizing voice that sent chills up Kino's spine.

"What do you mean by 'now that I mention it'? I've been mentioning it ever since I was wrongly convicted and placed on this forsaken level." Kino was not calming down. "I had a poisoned joke of a trial. It took the three all of two tenths to convict and sentence me to life on this prison level. And did you know," Kino was starting to twitch, "that if I keep up my good behavior for another few orbits I can be allowed to work the prison farm two levels cho-ward of here. Just what I, Kino Von Kaelic, who used to assemble the finest animatoids Gilead ever made, have always dreamed of doing!"

Kino began to intersperse bits of uncontrolled maniacal laughter. "Do you think they'd let me be a planter... or maybe they'd let me be reaper... using my own bare hands." He shook his fist briefly before dissolving into hysterical laughter and then into coughing fit. At last, he cleared enough mucus to continue his satirical rant, "Hey, hey, maybe.... maybe they'd let me assemble animatoids again."

"The shadowed interrupted, "Not likely, that would give you a chance to escape."

"You don't say," Kino replied sarcastically before starting into yet another eerie laugh that degraded into an erratic and rattling cough.

"This place is driving you crazy. Do you want out?" the shadowed asked suddenly becoming all business.

"Haven't you been listening to me? Of course I want out," Kino almost yelled

"Keep it down, you'll attract the warden." The shadowed seemed to rotate his head all the way around. Kino looked up in apprehension. "Are you willing to pay?"

"That depends," Kino ventured, suddenly saner than he had been in orbits. "What's your price?" Kino stifled another cough. A deal with a shadowed was a dangerous venture at best, but Kino was far past desperate. The chance to be around real people again was too good to just brush off. This horrible isolation enforced on him was driving him mad. It would have done so to any of the extremely socially oriented Insidis.

"Oh, the usual," the shadowed replied all too casually.

"And that would be?"

"Well," the shadowed paused to think before beginning to slowly circle the room. "You would... owe us."

"Us?"

"My associates and I have been running a little rebellion for some time now, cho-ward, on the soil. We would... require your assistance from time to time. Nothing much, really. A lie here, a murder there, nothing, really, to get in the way of your freedom. Just small stuff."

"I guess I might agree to that if gets me out of here," Kino thought aloud yet acutely aware there was still another part of the bargain left unsaid.

Sensing Kino's mood, the shadowed shrugged then remarked in a casually derisive tone, "And that body... it positively just has to go. It's absolutely atrocious on that hereb of yours. A more modern look would suit you so much better."

"How in this Morbian world am I going to get my hands on something I could animate?" The pale old assembler caught the hinted meaning immediately.

The shadowed leaned down and spoke conspiratorially, "I can get you two anchors tomorrow. You'll find them in the prison library just inside the door on the ground. You do have library privileges, don't you?"

Kino shook his head in disgust as he coughed and pointed at a small pile of books on the otherwise barren floor, "Anything else I should know?"

"I would make that cough much worse if I were you. And... it wouldn't arouse so much suspicion if you were to... die... in your sleep. We have a deal?"

Kino coughed a few times while he thought about it. He really didn't have any room to bargain with the conniving shadowed. Fifteen orbits of maddening solitary confinement had rendered him more desperate than he ever would have imagined himself even as a young tester dancing against opponents stronger than he was. Once again, here was an opponent more cunning and patient than he had ever encountered. He needed out. His sanity was on the edge of collapsing if it hadn't already. There would be only one way to win. Strike hard and fast on the first beat, then, get as far out of range as possible—and stay that way.

The shadowed watched the Insidis intently wondering why the decision was taking so long. Everything was prepared. A janitor had been bribed to get the anchors out, a used bone knight's shell waited in the lower levels for Kino to pilot with his hereb, and the Glorious One's chosen succession of Illuminarchs always needed obstacles to their effectiveness down on the soil, their own untimely death being the most preferable.

Finally, before his nerve gave out, Kino answered quickly, "Deal. Now leave me alone."

"Pleasure doing business with you, murderer," the shadowed couldn't resist the jab.

"I'm no murderer and you know it," Kino punctuated it with a rough cough.

"Oh... you will be."

"Never," Kino mumbled under his breath as the shadowed left.

_______

I don't trust that shadowed or any shadowed for that matter, thought Kino the next day sitting in his tiny cell with the small and bead-like anchors in his hand. He had given some thought to his escape the previous night. The last thing he wanted to do was trust the ones who had put him through so much misery the past fifteen orbits. The shadowed had been gone since their deal, Probably to get everything moving for my escape. I better act soon.

Kino chose a book out of his pile titled The Smithing of Actium and the Assembly of Hereb Anchors: a guide for our local acquirers, version 5.2. He had found the small book in the rehabilitation shelves, not that he had a prayer of being rehabilitated. He leafed through it thinking how useful it would be if he could escape. Of course, he would be killed immediately if caught with it unauthorized, which didn't seem so bad just now. Then, an idea struck him. The metallic hard cover would be a perfect place to set his anchors and make a wonderful temporary residence. I just have to make sure the book finds its way to something else I can shift to. Lucky I'm not a human, or it would be far too risky to try this. At worst someone might fall asleep reading it; I could walk their dreams for a while if I had no better options.

Kino carefully placed the first into a corner bending the metallic edges around it in such a way that it wouldn't come loose. He wedged the other inside the binding where he could just reach it with a finger. This needs to be convincing. I don't want to get caught and handed over to a dread knight. He shivered involuntarily at the thought and checked for the presence of the warden before pulling three more books over to his bedside. He placed the anchored one on top of one book and then put two more above that. Kino took a deep breath as he lay down on his cot, coughed one last time, and touched the corner anchor. Here goes.

_______

"Mortuary crew needed on prison level 4," the warden reported to the command station attendant.

"Who is it?"

"It's the murderer, Kino Von Kaelic," the warden responded from the voice enabler.

"How'd he die?"

"I was not in active observation at the time, but he had been quite sick. He was also in the latter stages of insanity."

"Latter stages, that was kind of quick, wasn't it? He's only been here fifteen orbits and even had library privileges." The attendant showed genuine interest.

"With us Insidis it happens much quicker than it does with humans or Tanthris when social contact becomes limited."

"I'll take your word for it. Let me report this up."

_______

Three men in heavy plastic suits checked the cell over for anything unusual. The Insidis had apparently died of a rather virulent infection and they weren't taking chances. The smallest man picked up the books that been beside Kino's limp hand and placed them in a large bag. "These need to be disinfected. I'll run them though a sterilizer before putting them back in circulation."

"Do you think he really died," asked the middle one, "or do you think he shifted?"

"I think he died, but we'll need to check for evidence of shifting. I pity him if he did. The dread knights would deal with him in that case," asserted the tallest.

"Those little kids even scare me." The smallest man shivered just thinking about them.

"I agree," replied the tallest with only a hint of an involuntary shudder as he scrubbed the floor under the bed, "Imagine being held prisoner in someone else's nightmares. That's the kind of thing that could keep you awake at night."

"Hey, guys," said the middle one zipping up the bag with Kino's body inside, "all this talk is creeping me out. Can we talk about something else? Please."

"And you work in the morgue?" commented the tallest. "You should be used to this by now."

"I was assigned to the morgue. It's not like I had much choice in the matter."

"None of us do. We are part of a community and everyone must do their part to achieve The Vision even if it is unpleasant." The rehearsed line was almost free of sarcasm, but not quite.

"We're done. Let's get out of here. I'm getting the creeps."

The shadowed looked around the room rather carefully himself; he even checked the plastic body bag before the men left with it. "Where did he go? We had a deal. We had a deal! Fifteen orbits of work, WASTED!" The shadowed stormed out of the room bent on making sure an entire level wouldn't sleep that truenight. His master would not be pleased.

_______

Kino could see nothing through the small opening at the top of the binding but the metal of the shelf above his book. Apparently, the lights in the library were left on all twenty tenths of the day, and Kino's grasp of time began to slip away. The ever-present half-light soon became just a dull glow in the back of his decaying mind, hardly worth his attention.

"We shouldn't have done it," Kino acknowledged to himself.

"I seem to remember you thinking it was a good idea at the time," he argued back.

"I didn't have a choice. I was going insane in that cell."

"And this is any better? You shouldn't have made that deal with the shadowed."

"Hey, don't put all the blame on me. You were there, too! You could have said something."

"I did, you just didn't listen. I tried to warn you."

"Well you didn't try hard enough."

"We've been over this a thousand times. It won't change anything. You're the one who thought he could outsmart a shadowed."

"And I did, my plan is just taking a little longer to work than I originally thought it would."

"It's not going to work. You should just give up your hold and face your judgment."

"What?! Face the Glorious One like this? No way! Not going to do it!"

"We're going to get out of this, and then I'm going to get my revenge on Allard."

"You don't even know it was him!"

"It had to be. We've been over the events of that morning a thousand times. It couldn't have been anyone else."

"Revenge is no reason to hang on. What would the Glorious One say?"

"He'd thank me for bringing Allard to justice."

"You're not thinking rationally, Kino."

"Oh, I'm sane all right."

"Look, you can't..." a sudden flare of light that seemed nearly blinding interrupted the conversation. A feeling of motion suddenly reached up and swept around Kino like a cool air vent set on maximum.

"I'd like to check this book out for use on the soil," a muffled voice requested. The librarian said something and the voice spoke again, "Yes, I know it's restricted.... Here's my papers.... May you shine brightly in The Vision."

"You see," Kino said once motion returned, "our redemption is at hand."

# GLOSSARY OF TERMS

### I. Choaradarian Time

A. compared to Earth time

1 Choaradar minute = 50 Earth seconds

1 Choaradar tenth = 83 earth minutes

1 Choaradar light/dark cycle (half day) = 14 Earth hours

1 Choaradar day (two cycles) = 28 Earth hours

1 Choaradar orbit = 438 earth days

B. Compared to itself

1 minutes = 50 seconds

1 tenth = 100 minutes

1 cycle (firstlight to secondlight) = 10 tenths

1 day = 2 cycles

1 week = 5 days

1 month = 25 days

1 season = 3 months

1 orbit = 15 months

1 orbit = 375 days

### II. Measurements

Stride – about 5 feet or 1.6 meters

Highstride – 1000 strides, or a little short of a mile or 2 kilometers

Handbreadth – about 4 inches or 10 centimeters

