Chapter 9: Angler Save the Queen

Teetch was a little fuzzy on the details, but as far as Derek could tell, the tunnel they'd jumped into was what the amberkin used for recycled Amber in fish poo. The amberkin's one exception to their "Don't feed living things Amber" rule was for the fish of their lake, and the amberkin harvested the Amber recycled through their poo back to some primary Amber source at the heart of the city called the Uwoom, where Derek and Teetch would also find the Queen. Derek knew his society did something similar with sewage systems, but that didn't comfort him. He was the type of guy who didn't want to know what ingredients went into his fast food. Ignorance is bliss.

As far as sewage tunnels were concerned, Derek was impressed with this one. It was warm, and the floors had that smooth, hand-shaped feel that everything in Amberkin Land seemed to share. Derek wasn't the tallest guy, measuring 5'8", but the tunnel made him feel like a giant as he had to hunch his shoulders in the taller sections and full-on crawl through the lower sections. There weren't any set light fixtures, but the tube of Amber they shared the tunnel with always gave off a faint enough glow to see by. The sound of lightly rushing water ran the length of the entire tunnel, overlaying the whole stretch with a white noise that Derek may have found pleasant in other circumstances, like not sneaking into a hostile, magical city with a professed Heretic.

Derek never thought he would miss the days when Teetch rambled incessantly about some tidbit of information he'd read about. But ever since they arrived in the Giild, Teetch's conversational skills must not have made it through the Gate, limiting their verbal interactions to sets of businesslike directions or general grumblings about how far the Giild had fallen. Teetch's underlying anxiety was seeping its way into Derek to the point where he couldn't take one more second of silence, so he started to ask Teetch questions that would stimulate the amberkin's scholarly tendencies. Derek would take a condescending lecture over the stifling silence of the sewage tunnel any day.

He started with the question that had been niggling at the back of his mind ever since they'd arrived in Teetch's Realm. "Why does your Realm look so similar to mine? It's almost the exact same, besides everything being the color of Amber. The trees, the mountain, the lake. It's identical. Even Othiamphuus is built exactly in the same spot as Golden Lake."

Teetch hissed in displeasure, "Don't get it twisted, Derek Dunn. Your Realm mimics mine and is merely a pale mimitation of the Giild. However, you are correct. I did notice some similarities. I've been pondering some possible explanations for this phenomenon."

Derek waited for Teetch to elaborate, but the amberkin just trudged forward.

"Sooo, what are your theories?" Derek asked.

Teetch laughed in response, but when he realized that Derek's question was serious, he said, "A Human couldn't possibly understand Manectics, even one who is Awakened and is a moderately more intelligent member of the species."

"Did I hear that right? Did you just call me intelligent?"

"You're taking my words out of context! I meant solely for a Human."

"No takebacks, you think I'm smart!" Derek taunted, "But seriously, we have time to kill before we get to the… Uwoom, you might as well give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen?"

"If you insist, but my ability to simplify so that you can understand has its limits," Teetch said with a grumble that didn't reach his eyes. "You remember our talk of Ideals?"

"I remember you mentioning them and never elaborating because I couldn't possibly understand," Derek replied.

"Ah, yes, let's start there. The Creator designed The Ten Great Ideals to fit the Ten Great Races. Before this, all Mana was plentiful and without aspect. However, Mana began to be tainted and affected by the Races and their Ideals after the Creation. Mana exposed to high concentrations of one Ideal over long periods becomes Aspected to that Ideal. I posit that Golden Lake's proximity to the Giild has Aspected the trace amounts of ambient Mana in your Realm."

"So your Magical Radiation tainted Golden Lake with your Ideal? Got it." Derek said.

Teetch paused, probably debating whether he should re-explain what he'd just told Derek, but he must have decided against it. "That explanation will suffice for this lecture. The amberkin's Ideal is Preserve. Different Ideals take on different shapes and patterns. I believe the patterns of ambient Preserve-affected Mana molded Golden Lake to match its ideal configuration closer, much like your weather patterns erode and shape structures over time."

"I think I'm following. Golden Lake's proximity to the Giild caused the land to shape itself to match your Realm?"

"Yes! I vastly underestimated my ability to explain complex topics in an easily digestible format." Teetch said, "But it is not just your geography that has been affected. Your culture and behaviors have surely been affected as well. I theorize that the existence of Golden Lake is almost entirely due to Othiamphuus."

"You lost me," Derek said, "How could an invisible city in another dimension affect whether or not people build a town there?"

"I am still working on theories. Manectics in the Human Realm is an area with a distinct lack of study, seeing as so few Mystical Races interrelate with Humans, but it is the only plausible explanation. There are too many similarities for it to be a happencidence. You Humans have even formed your own version of an ancient amberkin ritual. Preserve must have prompted this behavior. Nothing else makes sense."

"Hold up, no one in Golden Lake is doing any rituals. I've lived there my entire life, and there's not been a hint of ritual anything. I know you like messing with me, but this takes it too far."

"I cannot tell when you are joking, Derek Dunn. You are one of the ritual's primary participants. I believe I've heard you refer to it as the Jamboree. A bit of a nonsense word, but its origin lies with the amberkin.

"There is no way you're taking credit for my town's local fishing tournament. It's just fishing. There's nothing amberkin about that."

"I'm not suggesting your town is conducting a ritual. I am just saying the underlying patterns between our two Realms are so strong that Golden Lake has formed something that mimics the form, not the function of an amberkin tradition."

"Nope, not buying it. If what you're saying were true, there would be no such thing as free will. I refuse to accept that everything we do is just copying things the amberkin do." Derek said. He could feel sweat start to bead on his forehead, and he couldn't tell if it was because the conversation was getting heated or if the tunnel was getting hotter.

"Oh please, don't be melodramatic. When it's cold, do you not wear a sweater? It's the same fundimentary premise. And does everyone in your town participate in the Jamboree?

"Well, n-"

"Of course, they don't," Teetch interrupted, "Because their free will is intact, but I would imagine individuals with more Mystic potential are inordinately more interested than individuals with no knack."

"That's assuming that I even buy that your little ritual is similar to the Jamboree. For the rest of your argument to work, they would have to be similar enough to clearly emulate the other. Tell me about your so-called ritual." Derek said, wiping sweat from his forehead. The sweat almost seemed to glow in the amber light of the tunnel.

"You may not understand the cosmic or mystic significance, but I'll try to distill it down to its main points. It starts with every amberkin preparing a freshwater fish each year and releasing it into Kindaala's Bowl, our name for the body of water you call Golden Lake. For the remainder of the year, the fish are lavishly cared for and fed a steady diet of amber-rich foods. The Amber Madness causes them to grow bigger than they ever would naturally. Of course, some fish die or cull each other from the herd, but the goal is to nurture a large population of fish teeming with Amber by the end of the year. At this point, the amberkin use poles and other devices to capture every fish and release their Amber back to Kindaala, thus Preserving and replenishing the Amber needed throughout the year. This tradition persists to this day, but now, it is a waste of time. Without Kindaala, no kin can use and produce more Amber, so the Wheel hoards the excess Amber produced by the ritual. It does not rejoin the Flow."

"Okay, I'll admit that is pretty similar to the Jamboree, except for the release of the Amber bit for Kindaala. But we do add a ton of fish into the lake from a local fish hatchery on the mountain and fish the entire day to try and catch all of them," Derek said. "Wait, what happened to Kindaala exactly?"

"If I had the answer to that question, you wouldn't be here, Derek Dunn," Teetch replied. He stopped walking, and Derek noticed the Amber got much brighter ahead. "Arrogant fools," Teetch hissed.

As Derek approached the amberkin, he noticed what Teetch was upset about. The tunnel narrowed considerably because several more tubes of Amber branched from other locations into the sewage tube to create one gargantuan cylinder of Amber that nearly occluded the entire passage. Earlier, Derek thought maybe it had been his imagination or their argument making the tunnel feel hotter, but now that they'd arrived at this intersection, there was no denying the sudden increase in temperature. The air felt thick and cloying like it was more tangible, solid. Derek was glad he wasn't claustrophobic, as the air pressing in on him made the room feel smaller and more cramped.

"It's not ideal, but let's not waste more time. I think I can crawl through that narrow hole there." Derek said, pointing at an opening to the right of the tube.

"This tunnel should have remained uniform throughout. Someone without working knowledge of fluid mechanics or amber dynamics must have designed these other inlets. They are new, shoddy additions to a previously perfect system. It may work as a short-term solution, but it will cause more problems in an attempt to solve old ones." Teetch said, but it didn't feel like he was talking to Derek in particular; he was thinking out loud. "Vaasla would never have allowed something like this, but those fools ensured she wouldn't be around to slow their descent."

"I don't mean to sound like I don't care, but aren't we here to stop those guys? What good does it do to sit here and sulk about how wrong and incompetent they are? Didn't we already know that?" Derek asked, "Besides, this heat is really getting to me. I'm not feeling so hot, well, I am, that's sort of the problem. You're only supposed to be in a sauna for like ten or fifteen minutes, and this feels hotter than that."

Teetch looked at Derek and narrowed his eyes, but it wasn't Teetch's usual look of disdain or condescension. If Derek didn't know better, he would've thought the look on his face was concern. "You're right, Derek Dunn. Let's continue with all due haste. We haven't a moment to lose, and we are nearing our destination."

Derek wiped the sweat from his forehead, but it didn't do more than move it around this time. His arm was just as sweaty as everywhere else, which made it easier to notice what was happening to him. Earlier, he'd attributed it to the soft glow of the tube, but now there was no mistaking it. Derek's sweat had a soft, amber glow to it. Derek hurried after Teetch, but the amberkin had disappeared further into the tunnel. Teetch must have seen what was happening to Derek and knew they needed to get out of there. This much exposure to Amber couldn't have been healthy for him.

He got on his hands and knees and plunged into the tiny tunnel. At first, the experience reminded Derek of when he was a kid, making and crawling through forts he and Bridger had built. Except our pillow forts didn't have giant tubes of Amber. It pressed uncomfortably close to Derek's left shoulder. He did his best to avoid touching it, but he couldn't help brushing it a couple of times. It had the same feel as Teetch's body, like a warm water bed. It felt oddly welcoming as if Derek could give up and be engulfed in its warm embrace, leaving all his worries behind. It would be better than being in this tunnel even a second longer. At that precise moment, Derek decided to succumb to that welcome embrace, and he heard something. A beautiful voice was singing to him, beckoning to him. He couldn't understand the words, but he knew what they wanted, Derek. They urged him to keep going, not to give up, so he listened. Derek focused on that voice as the world fell away around him and left nothing behind but the heat and that voice.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Derek had never experienced burning alive before, but he couldn't imagine this feeling was too different. His veins seemed to be burning him from the inside, and it was all he could do to keep crawling forward. Sweat dripped into and stung his eyes, and every movement or intake of breath was on fire, but somehow, Derek kept going. Derek was so focused on putting one hand in front of the other that he didn't notice when the tunnel ended. He kept going until his head crashed into something hard—the door.

It didn't have a handle, but Derek knew it was the way out. The tunnel had reached its end while the amber tube bent upward at a nearly 90-degree angle. The heat hadn't let up, but at least Derek didn't feel like he was about to get absorbed by the magical golden goo. Golden dots were speckling Derek's sweat, but since Derek wasn't Amber Mad, he assumed that the ambient Amber in the air was mixing with his sweat, and he hadn't absorbed any of the stuff through his skin.

Teetch stood before the door with his hands on his hips, his expression concerned. "If Kaagen had received our missive, this door would be open."

"Why would anyone build a door that only opens from one side?" Derek asked, "It seems like intentionally bad design."

"You'll watch your tongue when speaking of Othiamphuus, Human." Teetch said, "However, you are correct. One–way doors would be a tasteless design. These doors are not one-way. They are a brilliant piece of amberkin ingenovation designed to be attuned to and open in the presence of specific individuals' Ambessence. As you can imagine, I do not make the list… anymore."

"So your buddy Kaagen has the golden ticket, and so did you? I didn't realize you were such a high roller. I saw those robes and thought you were some kind of street urchin."

Teetch chuckled, "In some ways, my life would have been simpler, were that true, but even before my parents were Reclaimed, I have held a high place in amberkin society. Sometimes, I wonder what luster my life would have taken if Vaasla had never chosen to shelter me. I regret nothing, but surely it would have turned out different than this."

"Reclaimed? Does that mean what I think it does?" Derek asked.

"I would not hazard guessing what your human mind is thinking, but Reclaimed refers to what happens when an amberkin rejoins the Flow." Teetch said, "It looks like Kaagen did not receive our message. If we do not want to join them, we must turn back and find another blinding path."

As if the small door had a sense of dramatic irony, it swung inward as Teetch prepared to crawl back the way they'd come. A blast of cool air swept into the passage, and Derek darted through the entryway to escape the muggy heat. Teetch followed closely behind. Derek admitted to being a little curious about what another amberkin might look like, especially one that Teetch considered a friend, but the new chamber was disappointing. He found himself in a small cylindrical chamber with five more similar doors arranged in a circle around him. A thin ladder climbed high into the air. Derek couldn't see where the ladder ended; as far as he was concerned, it may have stretched into infinity. The new room reminded Derek of an elevator shaft, and every ten feet or so, there was a new level with another set of six doors. Teetch and Derek were on the ground floor, alone. Whoever had let them in could've disappeared behind any number of doors.

Derek stared into the seemingly endless shaft and asked, "What is this room?"

"It is an access shaft for the Uwoom. There are several of these shafts. It is forbidden to Shape them, so they are used to provide entry to most areas of the Uwoom. From here, we should have at least indirect access to the Queen's Chrysalis." Teetch said, staring up into the expanse. Occasionally, he would shake his head and look at a different door as if trying to decide on something.

"You don't feel like this is an insane way to design a building? Especially, you know, your main building? You give Humans a hard time, but this place is like a mix between a beehive and a rat's nest cosplaying as a skyscraper."

Teetch rounded on Derek and pointed a finger at him while that finger turned into a long, golden whip. "This is the last time I will warn you about speaking ill of the Giild. I held my tongue in your depressing little Golden Lake. The least you could do is extend me the same courtesude."

"No, you didn't," Derek said, "You were constantly complaining about how bad it smelled and how it couldn't hold a candle to the brilliance of the Giild."

"Derek Dunn, if you could have read my thoughts, you would be admiring my herculean restraint. However, I take your point." Teetch said, "The layout of amberkin buildings may seem a little unorthodox compared to what you are used to, but in the Giild, nearly every amberkin Shapes the Amber. It isn't like Human culture, where a select few Humans contribute to the building of structures. Every amberkin is born with an innate ability to Shape and do so from an early age. They are taught the guidelines and then urged to Shape in ways that suit the Flow."

"Gotcha," Derek said, "So the buildings are more like abstract art designed by children."

"Precisely!" Teetch said, "Now, let's see if I can remember what door leads to the Kitchens, which will lead to the map room, which will lead us to the Hall of Murals, which undoubtedly will lead to the Chrysalis."

"It's that simple, huh?" Derek asked.

"I confess that I was hoping Kaagen would accompany us to the Chrysalis. Navidirection was never my strong suit, but then again, I never minded spending several days lost in the Uwoom; there are always new chambers to discover."

"So you have no idea where we're going? Here I was beginning to worry this would be too easy."

"I have plenty of ideas about where we are going. However, I am a little dim on how we will get there," Teetch said, baring his teeth, "Quiet your yapping, and let me think."

"Not so fast, Shortstack. How do we know more of these doors won't require your Ambessence or whatever?" Derek asked, "Why wouldn't the Queen's Chrysalis be locked for a Heretic and an Angler?"

"You think I'd not considered this? This particular tunnel was locked because everywhere the Amber flows is sacred. The Queen's Chrysalis will present no issues. Only the Queen herself may modify the door, and even if she had the presence of mind to do so, she would never lock me out. Unlike her chosen ambassadors, the Queen honors and remembers those who remain loyal. Now let me think."

"Just don't think too long. If anyone finds us, we're toast. And I'm over eighteen, so I can be tried as an adult."

Teetch shook his head disgustedly, "Toast, I do not know how you are thinking about food at a time like this."

Φ

Eventually, Teetch chose a door on the third floor. We didn't pass through any of the rooms Teetch mentioned earlier, but that was for the best. We were looking to pass through the Uwoom unseen, and the Kitchens didn't seem the best way to do that. Sizes, dimensions, and shapes varied wildly from room to room, but they all had that same handcrafted look, and Derek guessed that made sense. If every amberkin could design a room when the mood took them, they'd all feel unique and handmade. Derek asked Teetch if he had ever designed a room, and the amberkin told him not to be an "Idiocile," so he assumed Teetch had designed a room somewhere and the amberkin was embarrassed by it. If Derek could return under better circumstances, he vowed to find the room and leave behind a pine-scented air freshener.

The rooms Teetch took them through did share a few similarities. They were usually small and cramped and contained walls with honeycomb-like structures that contained scrolls made of smooth, yellowed paper. He said they were the personal studies of renowned amberkin scholars over the ages that had fallen out of favor, and therefore, the rooms had fallen into disuse. The thick veneer of golden dust that coated everything lent credence to the statement. Every so often, Teetch would pluck a scroll from a hole and stash it in his sleeves before continuing.

Sometimes, rooms would flow naturally from one to another, but then there were times when builders had decided to build the doors into the ceiling or the floor of a room. Derek and Teetch passed through over twenty rooms and changed levels five or six times before Derek finally lost track. Not once in their journey did they see another amberkin, but there were several instances where Teetch would "shush" Derek. Usually, they could hear scuffling and scrambling in a room over, but they would resume their journey when the sounds faded.

Derek guessed they'd traveled over two hours before Teetch got excited and exclaimed he knew precisely where they were. Their pace increased, and they reached a long passageway that Derek had to crawl through on hands and knees. At one point, he got stuck, and Teetch did something with a glowing hand to widen the passageway. At the end of a narrow vent-like corridor, Teetch pointed above his head and said the Chrysalis was directly above them.

"This is an entrance bequeathed by the Millenia Queen on Vaasla, and Vaasla bestowed knowledge onto me. I am the sole remaining kin that knows of its existence. Prepare yourself to meet the last Queen of the amberkin, Derek Dunn." Teetch said, putting both hands on a circular hatch. Before he pushed it open, he turned back and added, 'Try not to embarrass me."

Derek had expected the entrance to a Queen's Chamber to feel different, but it felt just like every other random entrance Teetch had taken him through. As Derek tried to stifle his disappointment, he heard a soft humming. It was the same voice he'd heard singing that first night he'd seen Othiamphuus and heard again in the tunnels, guiding him. Derek knew it wasn't possible, but it almost felt like the humming was inside his head, as if the Queen was humming just for him. Derek followed Teetch through the aperture.

The Chrysalis was a chamber fit for a Queen, and it was the first room that didn't have the signature "handcrafted" look that the rest of the rooms designed by the amberkin had. One time, Derek's parents had taken him and his siblings to Yellowstone National Park, and the Queen's Chrysalis Chamber reminded Derek of something he'd seen there. Old Faithful. The room's layout reminded Derek of the tall plume of the geyser but much larger in scale. The ceiling easily rose ten stories high, and the roughly circular shape of the room had to be at least twenty feet in diameter, but hard crystallized Amber dominated most of the floor space, barely leaving any room to walk around in the large room. The crystalline Amber pulsed with light in a rhythm similar toTeetch's veins, and it was easy to imagine this crystal as the pumping heart of the circulatory system that was the entire city of Othiamphuus. In the center of that beating, flashing, pulsing heart was the Queen.

The Queen of the amberkin vaguely resembled Teetch, but comparing the Queen to Teetch was like comparing Helen of Troy to Quasimodo. You could tell they belonged to the same species, but it was an injustice to compare the two. She hung suspended in the massive crystal of Amber with her eyes closed and a peaceful expression. Her long golden hair haloed around her head like when someone floats on their back in a still pond. She was twice as large as Teetch and seemed less lanky and angular. Flow was the word that came to mind when Derek looked at her long limbs and slender form. She wasn't wearing any obvious clothing, but the crystal's folds and angles gave the impression that it clothed her. As Derek stared at the Queen, transfixed, the humming in his ears grew louder, and he could almost hear words being spoken just out of his hearing range. If only he could get a little bit closer.

The Queen in Amber was the most beautiful and heart-wrenching thing Derek had ever seen. Derek could imagine devoting his life to saving her, serving her, even if it meant turning against everyone and everything. Suddenly, Teetch's actions, stealing the scroll, going against the Wheel, and becoming a magical fugitive, all made sense. Before, Derek had gone to the Giild because MythMaker told him to, and curiosity had gotten the better of him, but now he wanted to save the Queen because it felt Right with a capital R.

"Well, Derek Dunn?" Teetch said, breaking Derek out of his reverie, "What do your Hero of Prophecy instincts say should happen next?"

Derek checked MythMaker, but nothing had changed. He hadn't even gotten an additional side quest. Whatever being a Hero of Prophecy meant. MythMaker didn't think it meant saving the Queen; somehow, Derek didn't think Teetch would accept that for an answer.

"No divine inspiration here," Derek said, waggling his phone, "I guess we'll have to go with your plan."

"You are the blinding plan!" Teetch shrieked. "Recheck it. I was supposed to take you here. I feel it deep in the Flow."

"Teetch, buddy, I've never been here. I don't know anything about the amberkin, and MythMaker's got nothin'." Derek said and put a hand on his friend's back. The amberkin flinched away, "MythMaker says I have to discover what ills have been plaguing the amberkin for millennia, but I think the Queen frozen in Amber is a symptom. It isn't the disease."

"I can tell you who the Kindaala blinding disease is. The Wheel and all of ever-blinding amberkin society that listen to their drivel without an original thought in their veins. They yearn for someone to tell them what to do instead of seizing fate in their grasp. While the Wheel refuses to admit they're as clueless as the rest of us." Teetch's pulses were dim, but the Queen's crystal resonated with the little heretic's erratic pulses as if their pulsing had some empathetic link.

"Okay, so all of amberkin society is to blame, and you're the only one who's right. Let's say I agree with everything you're saying. What am I supposed to do about it? I know I'm the Hero of Prophecy, but what does that even mean? I have a freaking fishing pole, a knife, and a phone." Derek said, his raised voice echoing eerily in the chamber, mingling with the Queen's humming. It felt like they were having a conversation, but there was no change in her peaceful expression.

"I don't know what you're supposed to do!" Teetch shouted, "No one does, but I couldn't sit idly even a moment longer and let my Giild Dessicate into oblivity like all the others. They may have accepted their fate, but I will fight ours with every last drop in my veins. And you will fight with me because you're the Hero of Blinding Prophecy. Events pivot around you, so if you can't think of anything, we will wait until something momentageous happens!"

At that moment, Derek heard a loud crash and the sound of something rolling toward them.

"Cover your eyes!" Teetch shouted as a cleansing white light washed away everything.