Chapter
A River and an Apple
Taverns, no matter where you went or what universe you were in, felt, sounded, and smelled the same. Although Mikel could count the number of times he’d been to a tavern on a single hand, he’d already figured out that if you’ve been to one - you’ve been to them all.
The three men sat at a table, tucked away in a dark corner, all three with their backs to the walls as well as they could while still being able to talk and see one another.
Confusion registered on Mikel’s face as he shook his head and again looked between a transformed Helsket and Telgil.
“Explain this to me again - slowly.”
Telgil laughed and sipped at an icey beer the bartender had brought over for him. A thick rainbow of foam sat atop the beer like soap bubbles - but in no way other than color resembled the substance.
“This is the Market of Dreams,” Helsket said, pointing out into the thrumming thoroughfare outside the tavern, visible through incredible windows that looked more like spun fantasy than melted and molded sand. “This is the place we come to… Unwind a little, maybe make a few trades - maybe take a breather. It’s a place out of time where everything moves a bit differently than when we’re out on The Continent.”
“Yes, that’s the bit I can’t wrap my head around,” Mikel said, staring hard at the youthful version of Helsket - a version he’d never met before even when he was a baby. This Helsket was at his prime while looking and acting every inch the adventurer Mikel knew his legend to be.
Helsket bobbed his head, “Time, like any other resource can be manipulated if given enough energy set to the task. This… Bubble,” He drew a circle in the air with his hands, “Is a place connected to our world, but not of our world. The laws here are different than when you step out into the normal reality we call home.”
Mikel stared blankly at the other two men.
Telgil set his drink down and after seeing Mikel’s confusion continued with the explanation, “If the time issue is what’s bothering you just think of this place and our world like two rivers running side by side. If you place an apple that floats in our river it will float down as fast as the river is moving - correct?”
“As long as it doesn’t hit anything, sure,” Mikel said as his mind reeled, trying to make sense of this latest twist to an already bizarre day.
Telgil nodded, “Sure. Consider the river is clear and the apple floats down at the pace of the river, never erring and never stopping. Now, consider the adjacent river - one which flows much more slowly than our river. If we were to take two apples, say, and drop one in each river, what would happen if we marked a spot down the river and measured how long the apples took to reach it?”
“The apple in the slower river would take a longer time to reach the mark.”
“Correct - so now, you understand what’s going on here!”
“Not… Not quite,” Mikel said with a nervous laugh. Although he understood the basis of what was being said, something didn’t quite add up.
“If we’re the apple in the slower river… Wouldn’t we experience time more slowly as a result?”
Telgil’s eyebrows quirked up, “That is a good question. Helsket?” He looked at the old warrior for assistance, “you want to field this one?”
Helsket shook his head and quaffed from his mug before answering, “You’ve got me there. That’d be a question for Calcifer when we find him. Just suffice it to say, we’re in a slower-moving river here than in our world. Roughly a quarter the time flow rate of our world in comparison. So a minute passes here, four minutes pass back home - a year passes here, four pass where we’re from.”
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Mikel blinked in surprise as the ramifications of what Helsket had just said sank in.
“So you’re… telling me that I could spend twenty years here and eighty would pass in our world?”
“Exactly - see! You’re getting it!”
Mikel grabbed his beer and downed it in a single draft - hardly noticing the varying flavors that the beer imparted with its rainbow palette.”
“We’ve got to go. I’ve got maybe six months to help Dad before it’s too late for him. We need to get back and -”
“And what? Go running off half-cocked? A fat lot of good you do Erik if you’re dead before you even have six months to go by.”
Mikel stood for a moment, hands on the table, looking back and forth between the two men for a long time until he quietly relented and took his seat again. It was clear there was no arguing the point.
“Alright. But we can’t stay here too long. If what you say is true, every day we spend here is four I’m missing. That adds up quickly and I don’t have a ton of time.”
“Which is why we’re starting here,” Telgil said, “We need to assess what you need for this trip before you head out. For all his pigheadedness, Helsket was right to come to me. In Farraway, at least, I’m your best bet at tracking down supplies. We’ve talked enough about this place and wasted enough of the precious little time you’ve got. Let’s get to business.”
“Aye,” Helsket said after finishing the rest of his beer and smacking his lips appreciatively, “We’ll start it off with another round!” He held up three fingers for the bartender, who caught sight of the large warrior and nodded.
Mikel regarded his empty mug as his thoughts began to swirl. He wasn’t sure if it was the drink or the place or just his overall mood, but he suddenly felt a little lighter than he had before. Up to this point he’d been truly on his own, but all of a sudden, he had two capable friends willing to walk into hel with him - or at least help him to prepare for it.
“So, Mikel, tell me a bit about your mission. I know it’s nothing small if you’ve managed to roust Helsket from his hibernation. I’ve gathered that your father isn’t well… and you’re trying to help him?”
Mikel nodded as the bartender brought over three fresh drinks and swapped the empty mugs without a word.
As soon as the glass touched the table, Mikel reached out and held onto it as if to steady himself.
“He’s got The Rot. It… It moved quickly. Too quickly to do much other than watch the progression. He’s got maybe six months left before the end comes and in that time, I’ve made it my mission to save him - or at least try.”
Telgil winced and nodded, “That’s… worse than I thought. I knew your father - not as well as Helsket, but enough to recognize a great man and great warrior. My sympathies to you and your family for such a terrible loss.”
“He’s not lost yet,” Mikel said, staring hard into the rainbow cast of the foam on top of the beer, “not if we hurry.”
Telgil looked at Helsket who grimaced - the air in the bar had tightened and both men knew they needed to move along if they were to help Mikel.
“So,” Telgil said, “What are you after to help him?”
“I can’t say too much,” Mikel said, “Not here at least. Maybe somewhere more… private, but suffice it to say, one of my ancestors took an artifact of great power into HelGate in an attempt to purify the Hel realms. He never returned and his body, along with the artifact were lost to us.”
“And this artifact of purity… You believe it can cure your father?”
The Rot, although a rare phenomenon was not unknown on The Continent. It was held apart from other invasive, consumptive diseases such as tuberculosis or the various types of cancers simply by the fact that it was both caused by different things and acted differently than any other disease. The ailment usually impacted high-caliber warriors who’d lived or fought in areas of high magic density their whole lives. There was some conjecture about whether The Rot was connected to Essentia overdoses, but nothing definitive had ever been found. The overdose theory was unpopular because people who made use of Essentia regularly, mages, sorcerers, and the like never faced The Rot as an issue. Like many things around the disease, nothing much made sense.
Mikel had read all of these theories and rebuttals plus many more articles and books during the last year on his family's estate. It had been all he could do to try and help his father.
“It’s supposed to be able to cure any plague, disease, or disorder - The Rot included.”
“Helsket - what do you think?”
He shifted his shoulders before answering, “I think if Mikel found something in his family's archives about this then it’ll most likely be true - or at least closer to the truth than not. This wouldn’t be the first time we’d found a lead on some dread threat we faced, bound up and hidden in one of the many books at Raithson.”
“And you’re sure you can’t say anything more right now?” Telgil drummed the beer glass with overly large fingers crusted in rings and jewels.
Mikel nodded, “I am. I already took a chance - a stupid chance as Helsket pointed out - by showing off something else of value in a tavern in Farraway. He took care of any lookers-on, but I won’t make that mistake again.”
Telgil looked curiously at Helsket who shook his head, warning him off.
“Alright then - so your mission is to… Go to Helgate and retrieve this item of great power you can’t tell me more about and then return and cure your father of a disease we know near to nothing about. Correct?”
“Yes,” Mikel said simply. There wasn’t much else to be said about the matter and he could feel time ticking away second by second.
“Good. Although… A bit ambitious, I think I can help.”
“I’m all ears,” Mikel said as he took a drink, “First, start by explaining to me what in the hel happened to you and Helsket.”