“Now," the Cleric replied, "Gabil informs King Demkden about the situation. If he deems that our intrusion was deliberate, we get comfortable. It’ll be a long stay.”
“And if he deems not?” asked Arjun.
“We might reach Jivanpur within a couple of weeks.”
"Om-cursed stonehorns," Eve fumed, “How long will all of that take?”
“Not long. Stonehorns have some way of communicating over vast distances, though apparently it only works inside each city limit.”
Eve gave a mollified grunt, seemingly satisfied with their situation, at least for now. Arjun, however, was not. He was still freezing, not to mention half-blind.
“Why are my earth senses so erratic? I can hardly feel anyone outside this room?” Arjun eventually gave voice to his frustration since Eve didn’t seem inclined to, and James would never volunteer information. Before today, he’d never known his earth senses were so integral to perceiving the world around him. Its absence almost felt like being robbed of his eyes.
“It’s this black mineral you see here.” James indicated the veins with his hand. “Basil.”
“It’s said to be more precious than gold.” Eve began carefully examining one of the veins, going so far as to smell one portion of the wall.
Arjun spared a quick glance at her direction, a slight feeling of discontent spreading through his Crown Chakra. Then, a tiny part of his self reminded him that knowing things wasn’t a domain exclusive to any single individual. It was, or should be, the prerogative of all self-aware beings.
“Basil dampens earth senses. In large enough quantities as you see here,” James continued, “it can scramble your essence senses, making earth Manipulation unreliable and tricky.”
A shivering Aisha gingerly sat down in the chair next to Arjun. Without the body heat generated by walking, Arjun was starting to feel cold again, dressed as he was in light clothing. He’d left Agnipur with nothing but the clothes on his back. The couple of peddlers they’d met on the highway to Shillang were all out of warm clothes as well.
“Wish there was a fireplace in this room,” he grumbled aloud.
Eve gave an emphatic nod from the other side of the room, absently fingering her scarf. Arjun didn’t even have that, let alone a sweater or jacket over his plain cotton shirt.
“Stonehorns prefer cold weather. They even have a huge contraption which circulates cold air throughout the whole city. You’ll get used to it in a few days.” A huge yawn formed on the Cleric’s face. Thereafter, James leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and promptly started snoring.
As Eve started walking around the perimeter of the room, inspecting the veins in the walls, Arjun turned toward Aisha. He’d postponed this long enough.
“You followed us from the bazaar, didn’t you?” he asked in a low voice.
Aisha gave a slow, wary nod.
“But how? You didn’t follow us through the streets, vibrations felt faint.” Arjun thought back to the nagging sensation during that frantic dash through the streets of Shillang.
“Did you use the rooftops?”
Aisha glanced up uncertainly, then nodded again.
Given the pace James had set, it would have required a professional aditarun acrobat high on stamina Potions to manage such a feat. She was holding something back. But respecting her privacy, Arjun decided to postpone asking her about the ability to communicate with him mentally. Something told him she was just as clueless as him, not about what she could do, but how she could do it.
Then, almost against his will, the decision reversed itself, and the question popped out. Testing the water wouldn’t hurt, would it?
“The way you talked to me earlier, inside my mind. That felt like Crown to Crown communication.”
Aisha shrank back, afraid not of him, but of losing him – losing their burgeoning friendship. At least that’s how it felt like. Quickly putting up a reassuring hand, Arjun continued in an even quieter voice. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to tell a soul.”
Not that anybody was going to believe him even if he did. Telepathy was firmly rooted in fiction, and had never made the jump to reality.
The Crown was a sacred object. People would go to great lengths to protect its sanctity. No wonder she seemed flighty as a bird.
Then, he remembered his own experiences trying to communicate with people. Receiving emotions came easily to Arjun, partially thanks to his weird talent, while conveying them, at least successfully, was a far more daunting proposition, though it had never stopped people from liking him. Crossing the all-important barrier to love, however, had remained elusive.
“Can you receive thoughts as well as send them?”
“Yes.”
The soft melodic voice full of freshly crowned hope almost sent him jumping out of his chair in excitement. Recovering his equanimity, Arjun logically thought things through, and as he did, a stupid grin slowly spread across his features. The possibilities were endless. But given her wariness whenever talk turned to her talents, patience would be required. It truly was the conqueror of all, as the Tenets state.
Further discussion was interrupted by the sound of the guards saluting. Shrugging off his abstract musings about Aisha’s remarkable talent, Arjun looked to the door.
The stonehorn that entered was unlike any he’d seen since entering Balgistin. He was over five feet tall, almost as tall as Eve. With a lean yet muscular frame, he wasn’t as robust as the other stonehorns Arjun had seen thus far. Though he had the characteristic coppery red hair and beard of a typical stonehorn, the short grayish-orange horns, grayish cast to his stone-textured skin and willowy stature suggested he had a not-so-distant human ancestor, perhaps even a parent, an assumption which was aided by the fact that his signature contained two opened and three Awakened primary Chakras, and as many as seven secondary, all of them denser than Arjun’s own corresponding Chakras. However, presence of so much Basil inside the chamber meant Arjun was having trouble differentiating between the opened and Awakened ones, let alone their relative densities, which was a novel but frustrating sensation.
Alerted by his instinct, if not his senses, the Battle Cleric’s eyes snapped open as he went from fast asleep to wide awake in an instant.
“Sorry for the inconvenience, James,” the newcomer grinned widely, giving the Cleric a greeting nod. He then turned to the rest of them, an apologetic, and more surprisingly, honest, smile on his lips. “My name is Kumil Krajenshaw. I’ll be your guide for the remainder of your stay. Welcome to Balgistin.”
The man – possibly even a young man – possessed a warm and welcoming manner, a considerable improvement over the other stonehorns Arjun had met till now. But perhaps he’d been expecting too much. After all, stonehorns weren’t renowned for their hospitality.
“Please, follow me. I’ve arranged for suitable accommodations for you all,” Kumil said.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
The four of them followed him through the corridors of Balgistin, escorted by a mere four guards, which Arjun supposed was as good a sign of stonehornish trust as any.
Glancing around, he wondered what time of day it was. Or if indeed it was day at all. Exhaustion had by now reached such a point that he could’ve fallen asleep while sitting on the icy stone floor. Only the excitement of being one of a handful of humans to be granted the privilege of visiting the famous city of Balgistin kept him awake and alert.
“This leads to the Engine Cavern, if memory serves right.”
James seemed surprised at the level of trust being shown by Kumil in allowing relatively unknown outsiders access to one of Balgistin’s greatest wonders. Rumors of the Balgistin Engine had reached Arjun’s ears, though he still had no clue what it actually was.
“I convinced father to allow you to stay in the Engine Cavern. Need your expertise on a certain matter.” He paused, expression suddenly grave, something that was decidedly out of place on his jovial face. “Lack of trust can breed mistrust, even among friends… Especially among friends. We have more than enough security measures in place here. Engine is the best guarded place in all of Balgistin, even better guarded than the royal fort.”
“I’m sure that’s not the only concern on the minds of your fellow stonehorns,” said James, clearly indicating the pair of soldiers behind them. Unlike the couple in front, these two almost were on the verge of drawing steel just for them talking to the half-stonehorn in such an informal and familiar manner. Arjun had immediately noticed this, but hadn’t yet managed to formulate a properly indirect question.
“Rubbish!! Besides, if you intend to cause me harm, you can easily do so on the road to Jivanpur,” Kumil grinned.
That statement confused Arjun on several levels. Firstly, bodily harm wasn’t the prime concern of the soldiers. They were offended because the three humans in the group were behaving like an equal with someone they clearly held in high regard. Secondly, why would anyone even want to harm Kumil?
“Jivanpur?” James asked. “You’re coming with us?”
“Sure am. Finally, taking you up on your offer. Received Principal Hamilton’s acceptance letter yesterday.”
“You’re a Material Manipulator specializing in earth,” Eve said. It was almost a statement of fact rather than a question.
“Got me there.”
“Wouldn’t have thought there are a great many Earth Clerics here,” Arjun said. “Who taught you?”
“Taught myself, mostly,” Kumil replied, a hint of pride in his voice. “Detailed accounts we’ve collected from fighting the Clerics for over two millennia helped. We stonehorns are fond of keeping records. Even of our losses.”
“Those teach you the most,” James offered. He seemed less guarded around Kumil, suggesting years, if not, decades, of familiarity. Arjun managed to stifle the question at the tip of his tongue. Can’t go around interrogating people he’d just met about their age, can he? Maybe tomorrow.
Kumil nodded, acknowledging the point. “Met a Master Builder by the name of Emedin on one of my sojourns to the city of Garbal. He advised me to enroll at the University. If I wanted to progress further,” Kumil said. “Which I do. Was still on the fence until I met another Master Builder. Odd bloke. Never met a wandering Earth Cleric from the Trade Cities before. And a half-aditaru no less.”
“They do exist,” said James with a frown. “While the Center doesn’t prohibit movement into Gaia, they do strongly discourage it. Unless it’s related to some Guild activity, of course.”
Kumil gave an agreeable nod, then turned toward Eve, who was eagerly drinking in the sights and sounds just as Arjun was.
The corridor they were traversing was wider, with more artistic masterpieces lining the walls. Most were sculptures or relief paintings, all exquisitely carved, but none exuded age like the one they’d seen earlier. Still, a few of them, including one that depicted an epic battle, looked and felt to be well over a thousand years old.
“Aside from my signature, which, given all the Basil here, could easily be mistaken for a prospective Power Cleric’s,” a shiver went through Kumil’s previously grinning face, “What gave me away?”
“Well, this tunnel is sloping upward, and you’ve been Manipulating the stone floor subtly, and perhaps unconsciously, to gain purchase while walking. Hard to notice, especially with those boots of yours.”
Arjun berated himself for failing to notice something so obvious.
Kumil stood stock-still for a moment, then started laughing. A loud, unrestrained hearty laughter which made everyone else smile as well, even the dour soldiers.
While smiling, it is difficult to maintain a grudge against someone for her intelligence and against yourself for your own lack of attention.
The half-stonehorn grinned, tapping his feet together in the parody of a little dance. “Picked these babies up from an Artificer acquaintance of mine, down in Garbal. Does excellent work. I’ll introduce you when we pass through there on our way to the University.”
Eve gave an excited nod. “What I don’t get is how you seem to be unaffected by this lava-cursed mineral. I was lucky to notice as much as I did, as my senses are all jumbled up.”
“Ironic, since without lava Basil wouldn’t exist.” His amiable demeanor suddenly turned sour, as Kumil started walking faster, presumably to avoid inadvertently revealing anything more about one of the best kept secrets of the stonehorns.
All Arjun could remember from his father and Thurma’s collection of books about Basil was that it was extremely rare and obscenely expensive. Most people even among Clerics didn’t know much about it. Until today, he didn’t even know what it looked like, or more importantly, what it did. This lack of knowledge was due to several reasons. Chief among them was because the refinement process, as well as the precise location of the Basil mines – all but a couple supposedly in the Kailash – were closely guarded secrets. And all stonehorns excelled at guarding secrets. Well, all but Kumil it seemed.
“You have a sharp eye and keen mind there, Eve.” Kumil glanced back toward Eve, having recovered some of his usual cordiality.
Very few women, if any, are immune to flattery. Eve was no exception, although she seemed embarrassed about being praised, and then in turn embarrassed about being embarrassed. Noticing an even wider corridor branching off to the left, she asked, “Where does that lead?”
Though a valid question, it was plain to everyone that she’d inquired less from any desire to know and more to divert everyone’s attention from her flushed face.
“To the Farmer Cavern. Balgistin consists of four main Great Caverns. The one closest to the surface is primarily for farmers. One holds the Engine and other large mechanical devices as well as the houses of the Engineers and Mechanics themselves. One residential Cavern for a large portion of the population and the last, the deepest Cavern holds the royal fort, military headquarters and other administrative buildings. There are several dozen adjoining Caverns as well, most large enough to hold a medium-sized city.”
“Where do you live?” Arjun asked, hoping to learn more about the half-stonehorn, who he was starting to suspect was a noble of some sort. At least his style of speech and the reaction of his fellow stonehorns suggested that.
“The Engine Cavern, which is our destination, as well as where you’ll be staying. Won’t have time to invite you to my home, though I daresay you might find it a bit bland compared to your guest suites.” Seeing the inquisitive expression on Eve’s face, he added, “I’m an Engineer. My quarters are comfortable but unspectacular. Which is just how I like it.”
Arjun’s gaze sharpened. “Engineer?”
“I designed a few of the devices you might see in the Cavern.”
“By a few, he means a fair few,” James put in. Then, he turned to Arjun. “Wait a few bells before asking which devices.”
Arjun gave a guilty grin. “Where do the farmers plant the crops? Without sunlight plants would die.” He had always been fascinated by the stonehorns, perhaps because so little was known about them. Nothing breeds curiosity and interest like the unknown. As a result, he was brimming with questions.
Kumil grinned. “I didn’t say the Farmer Cavern had a roof, now, did I?”
“So it’s open to the suns. For how long each day?”
“About half the time. We might soon be able to mimic the suns’ rays throughout the day.” Kumil’s glance shifted to James. “In fact, that’s the reason I wanted to talk to you.”
Seeing James’ puzzled expression, he elaborated. “We’re hoping to build a device which would be able to channel the suns’ rays via tunnels using mirrors. This way, it’ll be easier to store the energy. But the mirrors we have been experimenting with are far too inefficient.”
“I would be more than happy to lend you a helping hand. But not before a large meal and a good few bells’ sleep. It’s almost morning, isn’t it?”
At James’ mention of food, Arjun’s hunger returned tenfold. Looking around he realized everyone in the group shared his and James’ feelings.
“Yes, almost. Surya rises in three bells. Ah, we are here at last,” he said, indicating an immense stone door, perhaps thirty feet tall and half as wide. A good five squads of soldiers were standing just outside a large squat building, presumably an outpost, just to the side of the partially open door. As the group passed, they all saluted Kumil.
One, the captain presumably, stepped forward. “Everything is prepared as you ordered, Master Engineer. Do you want me to accompany you?” He gave the four of them a measured and not-too-friendly glance.
“That won’t be necessary, Kolbin.” Kumil nodded, gesturing for them to follow. When they were out of earshot, he gave an embarrassed smile. “We stonehorns aren’t naturally inclined toward trusting folks of other races.”
But Arjun had forgotten all about the implied insult. As he passed the massive five-feet-thick door, the Engine Cavern spread out before him in all its glory.
“And I thought the door was large,” Arjun muttered to himself.