Kianne's Journal - Archive

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[9/26/2003]

We found Shamino in Skara Brae today. He was wearing the silver armor I had given him, helmet and all. Earlier today, I had gotten him some blackrock armor instead. I thought it would suit him better than all of that shiny silver.

“This is blackrock!” he gasped in surprise when I handed it to him.

I nodded. “I was surprised too. They've figured out how to make it into armor.”¹

“Unbelievable,” he murmured, shaking his head. “So much has changed...”

We asked him if he was feeling better after his rest. He hesitated. I couldn't really see his face under the helmet, so I had no idea what he was thinking.

“Though my health has returned, I...” He shook his head again. “I wish to discuss this at another place.”

We nodded, understanding, since we were standing on the streets of Skara Brae. Andrella made a gate to the Shadow Keep, and we all gathered in the room with the large table. Shamino sat down and took off his helmet, and I blinked in surprise.

“Shamino...” I stared. “Your hair matches your armor...!”

He sighed deeply. “I have aged every day since my return.”

“What!?” I gasped.

Shamino shrugged. “Though my strength returns, age takes what it does. My bow...I have a hard time aiming. My eyes are not what they used to be.”

I stared at him in stunned disbelief. “I'd..thought the stone spell had stopped you from aging...”

“But that is not what is important,” Shamino chuckled a little. “There are other things we must discuss besides my gray hairs.”

“What of the elves? Have they not prolonged Iolo's life span?” Sygil asked.

“I do not think so.” Shamino shook his head. “When I saw him, he was the eldest of us all.”

Sygil and Ayla looked surprised. I frowned. “Iolo had already aged though...”

Shamino nodded. “Aye. You would know. He was your companion, of course you know.” He smiled.

I nodded. “He was old the last time I saw him. And that was a while ago.” Then I grinned. “Don't tell him I said that though.”

The others snickered, but Shamino quickly grew grave. “There is something far darker at hand. In my rest, I have had the same dream over and over. It may be biased to my hatred, but I saw Lord Soth with his hands grasping the Gem of Immortality.”

I blinked. “Soth with it?” Something wasn't quite matching up here.

Shamino shrugged. “And why not, as I thought about it. He has nothing to fear from these lands as we all do. He does not age, he feels no pain... He fears not the Avatar as Mondain does. He is cruel and the most vile being I have ever seen.”

I was busily trying to soak all of this in. “But... He'd have to go through Mondain?”

Shamino commented as a reply, “I fear he is far more dangerous then even Mondain.”

I was stunned. More powerful than Mondain, who wipes entire buildings from the face of the planet and can kill with a thought? I had known Soth was evil, but I'd always thought he was small fry in all of this. We'd even helped free him, for crying out loud...

I sighed. “I'd hoped we'd be rid of him now...”

Shamino looked us over. “You say you want to send him away. How can you do this?”

“We were going to use the Orb of the Moons,” I explained. “Or at least that was the thought. But first, we need the coordinates of Krynn...”

Shamino considered that. “I am afraid, if he gets his hands on the Tome of Stars, what will he do with it? With the coordinates to all places in the universe. Dawn... Earth...”

I grimaced. “Nothing good, that's for sure.”

“Any ideas on how we can get the Tome of the Stars?” Andrella asked.

“Not as of yet.” Shamino leaned back. “I have thought much of what Shalilissta told me. Yet...she never feared the golem. Even when Minax threatened her with it. Shalilissta challenged her, told her to bring the golem.” He looked puzzled.

I considered that. “So... Maybe it's not so bad?”

“All I know is it here for only one purpose. To annihilate the Avatar.”

I hesitated. “But the others...?”

“It consumes any living thing around it,” he noted. “Devouring them. Plants... animals...”

“So it's not just me,” I realized with surprise.

“It's not just you,” he agreed, “though it seeks only you from what I heard.”

I felt much better hearing that. “Then once we figure out what to do, I can go too.” I smiled.

Shamino mused, “Even Minax would not unleash it on this facet, for it would consume everything. Like it did in Felucca.”

I nodded slowly. “But we have to find a way to defeat it, and we have to hurry. I don't have to remind you that Soth isn't alive...”

“Which is why it could be very bad if he decides to go to it,” Shamino agreed.

“Then our next move should be to investigate the golem,” Andrella decided.

Shamino nodded. “If you go now it is certain you will die. There is no escape from the golem.” He frowned. “But why did Shalilissta not fear it, yet she feared Soth...” Shamino shook his head. “I will think of everything I can. Shalilissta told me a lot, and I saw many things with my own eyes. ”

I sighed a little. “And here I was worried about Mondain and Minax and Exodus... and the Guardian...” I couldn't quite keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

“First things first,” Andrella spoke up. “We need to investigate the golem. Once we find out how it ticks we can proceed with the planning.”

We all nodded. “But how will you find out?” Shamino asked.

“I would suggest libraries,” she replied. “And strongly suggest Soth.”

I grimaced a little. “Soth...will be tricky.”

“I was thinking myself of studying some books,” Shamino said. “Can you get me to Moonglow? I know an old friend. I only hope he still around.”

We trooped outside and made a moongate to Moonglow for Shamino. The rest of us split up to check out the various libraries we could think of.

Later, Andrella and Ayla and I encountered Shamino again in Moonglow. He told us that he knew an innkeeper here, named Tomas Gladdins, and that the man is now the owner of the inn. But he's out of town caring for his mother, so Shamino said he would have to wait a few days before he could speak with him.

We decided to go to the Lycaeum, and I waited for Andrella to whip out her runebook. But she looked expectantly at me. “Don't tell me you don't have your rune either,” I giggled. I had placed all of my runebooks except for one in my house, since I have the Orb of the Moons now. I had written the coordinates from the runebooks into my little book of notes, but I'd forgotten the Lycaeum.

So we headed over to the teleporters instead. “Let's see if I remember which one it is,” I grinned, and led the way. Luckily for my pride, my instincts were right.

“The last time I used those teleporters,” Shamino reflected with a small smile, “was when Michael told me to use one to meet him at the magic shop. I ended up in Jhelom...”

We all laughed.

“You should see the books of Ages, if you haven't already,” I remembered.

We wandered down to the room with the books of the Ages for Shamino to see. I think he was as fascinated by them as I had been. “I think I should hang around Moonglow for a few days,” he commented after he'd examined the books. “Tomas will be back and I can stay at his inn.” He glanced around the Lycaeum. “His daughter is a scribe here from what the innkeeper told me.”

I blinked as a thought occurred to me. Andrella was thinking along the same lines, and she beat me to it. “Would you happen to know her name?”

“Sami Gladdins?” he responded, and I burst out laughing.

“We know Sami!” Andrella explained to Shamino with a grin. “I believe she wrote these books.”

“And she's the one who found Michael's notes for me,” I nodded, giggling. “What irony.”

“His notes?” Shamino asked.

“Yeah. They were random notes he'd jotted down. Mantras, that sort of thing.” I smiled. “It was very helpful.” Then I added, “I should give you his notes. You were his friend.”

“Well,” Shamino shrugged, “I was never good at holding onto things for him. He always gave his important items to Iolo.” He chuckled.

“And the skiff to Dupré?” I queried with a grin.

“Oh yeah.” Shamino laughed, then shook his head. “There were times when I felt a little like a third wheel. ‘Oh, we don't need that, give it to Shamino.’” He chuckled.

I blinked and tried to remember if I'd ever done that. “You are never that,” I protested.

“Lose things often?” Andrella asked teasingly.

“Oh no. I just never got to hold anything. I was always the third companion. Third in line to eat...”

We laughed.

“I put up the blackrock armor,” he added. “I am saving it.”

“Use it,” I urged him. “I'd like for you to have it.”

“I can't believe you gave me blackrock!” he chuckled. “And it's not even hand-me-downs!”

Andrella and Ayla laughed. I blushed. “Well, um... It wasn't always hand-me-downs,” I giggled.

“Michael gave the nice new magic armor to Dupré, then gave me Dupré's old armor,” Shamino laughed.

“Yeah, that sounds... I mean--!” I teased.

“We Paladin types need our armor,” Andrella winked.

“Well, he was our human shield...” I mused with a chuckle.

“True, he was.” Shamino swerved back onto topic. “So you know Sami, but not her father?”

We nodded. “She talks about her father, but I haven't met him,” I said.

“He was always down to earth and went out of his way to be nice,” Shamino commented. “Most inns we stopped at, only the Avatar got the good deals.”

We all laughed again.

“Come to think of it,” I realized guiltily, “Iolo carried our gold too...”

Shamino chuckled. “Oh yeah. ‘Give that gold we found to Iolo.’” He chuckled again. He seemed to be taking it in good humor, but I still felt a little bad for him.

We wandered back outside. It was getting late, so we would hit the sack and search more the next day. “I am working on my aim,” Shamino commented. “And my swords. Hopefully I can be of some help...until Dupré gets back anyway.” He chuckled.

“You will always be of help,” I told him sternly. “I'll see if I can get you more arrows. The more the merrier, right?”

“I could never have enough,” he agreed. “Do you want this silver armor back?”

“No, you can keep it for backup if you'd like.”

“Wow,” he teased. “You even equip me with backups.”

I laughed. “Well, it's, um, hand-me-downs.” I giggled. Andrella laughed. Ayla snickered.

“I am honored.” He smiled.

I smiled back. “You are more than welcome.”

We walked over and considered the teleporters. “I don't know which one goes back to Moonglow, to be honest,” I chuckled. “But that's okay--I have a rune!”

“Michael didn't care if he knew,” Shamino smiled. “As a matter of fact, that would make him want to try even more.”

“Oh, I'm more than willing to do that.” I grinned. “But it's late for me to bring everyone on a wild chase.” I winked.

“You are kind and very considerate,” Shamino said to me. “From what I have seen, I mean that.”

I felt my face growing warm. “Well...” I murmured. “I kind of feel I let everyone down...”

“Nay,” Ayla responded instantly.

Shamino nodded in agreement. “You are here now.”

“Yeah...but so late.”

“You are here now, and that is all we need,” he repeated. “I know you will prevail because the Avatar never fails this land. Never.”

I managed a faint smile. “I will do my best. Thank you, Shamino.”

“I am going to try on my new armor,” he smiled back. “And go try my hand at hunting.”

We bid Shamino good night, and Andrella made him a gate back to Moonglow. Ayla and Andrella went back to the Shadow Keep.

And I went home to consider Shamino's words...

---

[9/27/2003]

This morning when I woke up, I laid there for some time and just let my mind wander. Soth, and the black void golem, and how will we find out what we need to know? My thoughts replayed all of the conversations of the previous day, everything we had learned...

There is nothing alive in Felucca...

For some reason that bit of knowledge stood out. For a moment I wasn't even sure why. Then it struck me, and I bolted upright to a sitting position.

The skull of Mondain. Of course.

Part of me shuddered at even the notion that I would consider activating the magic locked within the evil artifact. I shoved aside the reservations and weighed the advantages and disadvantages with a logical mind.

From everything I heard about the skull the first time I had discovered it--and assuming all of that still holds true on this shard of Britannia--the skull's magic effectively casts a miniature Armageddon. And Armageddon, according to the wisps, was a spell which ended all life on the planet except for that of the caster.

But the wisps had been very specific in pointing out that Armageddon would only affect the dimensional plane on which it was cast. I assume that, due to its very nature, Felucca exists as a dimensional mirror of Trammel. This means the spell if cast in Felucca would not affect Trammel.

And if everything else in Felucca is already dead anyway...

Of course, there's no telling whether the spell would even harm the golem. And it's not something I would take lightly. So I still consider it to be a last resort, rather than our first offense. However, it's something to consider.

I was a little worried, though, of what Shamino might think of the idea of using the skull...

I got dressed and went downstairs in my house, but my thoughts were still on Shamino. Andrella showed up on my doorstep and caught me by surprise, and I tried to wipe the tears away as I opened the door and invited her in.

“What's wrong?” she asked instantly.

I chuckled sadly. “I was just thinking...”

“About?”

I shook my head and gazed out the window, putting my thoughts into order. “They...said I would have to get used to seeing my friends grow old and die,” I commented quietly. “But--I'm not, yet... I don't think I could ever get used to it...”

“Are you referring to Shamino?” Andrella asked me, and I nodded.

“And others. His aging just got me thinking, and one thing led to another...” I laughed at myself and smiled weakly, on the verge of tears again. Would everyone grow old and die? Would Andrella?

“I don't think he's going to die just yet,” Andrella smiled. “From what I understand of it, his body is just catching up. He's just old like Iolo and Dupré.”

I chuckled. “I guess he won't be adventuring with us, though...”

“You never know.” Andrella went on cheerfully, “But instead of worrying about what may happen, perhaps focusing on the here and now would make you feel better.” She grinned.

“Oh, definitely. I just need to be doing something.” Just need to keep my mind off it, for a few more years...

Andrella nodded and mentioned a few ideas she'd had regarding Soth. My first impulse was to just walk up to him and show him the Orb and tell him to get the coordinates to Krynn. But after what Shamino said, I don't want him to get any ideas in his head about the Tome of Stars or the Gem of Immortality. So that might not work. Andrella suggested trying to get Soth to give us details about the black void golem, and Felucca, and anything else that he might know, by playing stupid.

“Keep asking him questions,” she suggested. “Make him do most of the talking.”

We went over pros and cons of talking to Soth. During the discussion I noticed a troll had wandered into the clearing and was ambling idly toward the house. Andrella and I went out and quickly dispatched it. Well, she dispatched it while I was drawing my bow. Heh.

“I need lessons,” I teased. “Of course, I could never use a sword like you do.”

“I learned at a young age. It's like second nature I guess.” Andrella shrugged.

“I learned at an adult age,” I giggled. “And through necessity.” I shook my head with a grin at just the memory. “My first sword had a purple handle, with a tassel on the end... And the scabbard was purple to match. Dupré said it was pretty, but not very practical.” I laughed. “I told him I bought it at a bazaar, what did he expect?”

Andrella snickered.

“Oh, one more thing,” I remembered, and told her my thought about the skull of Mondain.

She agreed that it would be a good idea to see what Shamino thought of the matter. So we traveled to Moonglow and explored a bit to see if we could find him. As it turned out, he was by the teleporters when we arrived, and he was wearing the blackrock armor I'd given him.

We did a little small talk, then Shamino spoke up, “I was going to the telescope. Would you join me?”

We agreed and followed him. He led the way to one of the teleporters, then right to the telescope. “That's a Ranger for you,” I teased. He laughed.

“There used to be sages who were posted here,” he mused as we examined the giant telescope. “Now there is no one.”

“I've never seen anyone,” I commented. “And I've never figured out how to get the telescope to work...”

We looked it over. The telescope is gigantic, but even though I'm familiar with high technology, I've never gotten it to do anything useful.

“Oh, Kianne had an idea regarding the golem,” Andrella spoke up finally.

I nodded, but hesitated a moment before I was able to tell him about the possibility of using the skull of Mondain.

Shamino stared at me. “You..you are brilliant!” he gasped, and I was taken aback for a moment. “That is it! That is the piece I was missing!”

Now I was really confused. “Piece?”

He nodded. “No wonder Shalilissta never feared the golem.”

It hit me in that moment. “She had the skull!”

“And no wonder why Minax would not bring it to her...” Shamino nodded at me. “I knew there was something.”

“Do you know better what the skull does?” I asked him. “I have an idea from what I've heard, but...”

“I heard it has the power to annihilate the world,” Shamino replied gravely. “Much like his live powers, that he used to destroy your city.”

I frowned a little. “It...erases things?”

“I was never sure how to word it. It has to do with negative energy and matter and all that.”

I considered that. Negative matter hitting positive matter was supposed to cause an explosion... “The wisps said that Armageddon only affects the plane on which it is cast. Do you think the skull would as well?”

He paused. “You mean to invoke its powers...”

“Well, I just wonder if it would affect more than Felucca. Being wrong has such a high price tag...”

He agreed. “That is a matter which requires much thought. There must be someone with some knowledge of it.” Shamino considered for a moment. “Tomas knows many of the scribes. Surely there is a scribe who would know.”

“I hope so,” I agreed.

“I will find out for you when he returns.”

“Thanks, Shamino.” I smiled.

He glanced around. “I need to get a recall rune to Skara Brae and the cities if you know how I can get them easily?”

Andrella handed him her town runebook. “I can buy another later,” she grinned.

He flipped through the pages. “Perfect.”

We also gave him some more gold, and Recall scrolls to use with the runebook.

“This is more than enough,” he assured us. “I only need them to travel across the sea.”

“The moongates still function here, at least,” I commented. I had really missed them when I'd come to Britannia that one time to find that they weren't functional.

“Aye,” he nodded. “But they seem unreliable.”

“They will take you where you want to go eventually.” I laughed. “I was always too impatient to wait for the right phases of the moons. I got spoiled by the Orb of the Moons.” I giggled.

Shamino tilted his head toward the telescope. “Michael used to have the sages here calculate coordinates for him.”

I stopped and stared at him. “They can do that?”

He nodded. “I was trying to use it myself, but I fail to grasp how such calculations are determined.”

“That would be handy,” I breathed.

“There must be a Star Sage left on this island,” Shamino mused. “I will find out for you.”

Star Sages. Tome of the Stars. Of course. The name of the tome was meaningless to me just a few weeks ago. Funny how everything makes sense now.

“We would be willing to pay them for their work,” Andrella noted.

“Can they can figure out coordinates for other planets?” I asked hopefully.

“Krynn, it is called?” he asked, and we nodded.

“I will find out. Just be careful. Michael's orb would not function on Earth, at least that is what I am led to believe. It may take you to Earth, but it may not return you. So if you use it to get to another planet...”

“Well, we weren't planning on going ourselves, anyway,” I chuckled.

Andrella agreed, “We would be pushing...er, escorting someone out.”

“Mondain's lair is in the stars above,” Shamino pointed out.

“The stars above?” we echoed.

“Minax said so. Shalilissta said so too. He is not in this world.”

I frowned. “So if we go there, we might not be able to come back?”

He made a little shrug. “There must be a way. He can come and go as he pleases, as well as Minax.”

I made a face. “He makes tears in the fabric of reality. At least that's what it looked like...”

“A haunting thought,” Shamino shuddered.

“That's why I've been worried about his power,” I pointed out. “Not Soth...” I sighed.

“Well, Mondain fears you,” Shamino assured me. “He cannot face you here. Soth, on the other hand...”

I let out another sigh, this one longer and more drawn out. “I suppose this is a bad time to mention, but...I sort of made a promise to him.”

Shamino was still. “A promise...”

“Not that he keeps his word at all,” Andrella grumbled.

I nodded a little regretfully and explained about our deal with Soth. “He really did seem like the lesser of the evils at the time. And anyway, it's our best bet of getting rid of him.”

“Dealing with Soth...that is very dangerous,” Shamino murmured.

“I know,” I sighed. “I've been to Krynn.”

“Oh?” Shamino asked.

I nodded. “It's where I first encountered him. He's increased his power, though. A lot.”

“He is a true threat to all of us.” Shamino shook his head.

“We've tried killing him,” Andrella pointed out. “We've thought of trapping him.”

I inclined my head. “Our saving grace is he appears to want to leave here and return home. If he still wants that...we may be able to use it to our advantage.”

“He told Shalilissta he would get the orb,” Shamino reflected. “And he said he always gets what he wants.”

Andrella rolled her eyes. I piped up, “Well, he's getting what he wants--a first class ticket out of here. Or maybe a third class boot to the rear.”

Andrella snickered. Shamino commented thoughtfully, “Perhaps there is something he fears elsewhere.”

I shrugged. “It's hard to say with him. He said he feared Mondain. Heck, he said he feared the Guardian.” I rolled my eyes.

“That is what is disturbs me,” Shamino frowned.

“He could have been lying,” I pointed out.

“Mondain tried to defeat him, from what I learned,” Shamino said. “That is what made him ethereal.”

I shuddered. “If Mondain can't defeat Soth...”

“Soth isn't from here,” Andrella reminded us. “That's why he can't be erased.”

“Soth seems to be growing in knowledge and power,” Shamino said gravely. “He was always eager to learn about the land. Asking Shalilissta much about it. About the Avatar. About everything. That is what I have dreaming about. What if Soth decides he wants to stay and take the Gem of Immortality from even Mondain?”

I nodded. “That's what I worry about, ever since you mentioned it...”

“We have to stop him before that happens,” Andrella agreed.

“You have to orb, now you just need coordinates,” Shamino mused, and we nodded.

“We could ask Soth for them,” I snickered. “His way of finding out may not be aligned with what we'd like, however. So I like your idea much better.”

He nodded. “I will ask Tomas to help us find a Star Sage. In the meantime, I will continue to polish my skills. Though it seems every step I take, I am always two steps behind.”

I looked at him sadly. “Can we help any?”

“I think it is only my age catching up to me,” he assured us. “I will get used to it, much like Iolo did. If that old bard could ready crossbows...”

We laughed. “I can't wait till we can see him again,” I added. “Just need coordinates...”

Andrella snickered. “That's our life story now! ‘Just need coordinates!’”

“The Tome of Stars will have all we need,” Shamino assured us. “I am sure of it.”

“Except maybe Krynn,” I giggled.

“Well, yes, maybe not that.” Shamino chuckled. “I will find out about invoking the skull, if I can.”

We nodded. We would see what we could find out also. Even if we don't plan to use it, a backup is always helpful, and more knowledge couldn't hurt.

“So we need to get Krynn's coordinates, send Soth out of here...” Andrella enumerated. “Then go to Felucca and get the Tome of Stars.”

“Then we free Lord British,” I grinned.

Andrella smirked. “Then Blackthorn will get his just reward.”

“Aye!” we agreed.

“Then we can take care of Minax, Mondain, and Exodus.” I shook my head a little. “And the Guardian...well, he can go jump in a lake.”

They laughed. “You have it all figured out,” Shamino smiled.

I turned to him. “Did I tell you he has been talking to me again?”

Shamino muttered under his breath. “Cursed being.”

I nodded my head. “It's very irritating. And Blackthorn is trying to build another Cube...”

He looked at me. “Is that so?”

“So we've heard. I don't know where it would be built...”

“With blackrock so easily attained,” Shamino noted, “it could be disastrous.”

I nodded again. “So we need to keep an eye out for it. And if they make a Sphere...” I shook my head. The Sphere had made the moongates stop functioning. And the Orb of the Moons. If it happened now, all of our plans would go down the drain...

“But the people seem very stable,” Shamino pointed out. “And they speak of you often. And of the Virtues. I doubt the way of the Guardian would take hold at this time, with talk of the Avatar so loud.”

We smiled. “We'll keep it that way, then,” I grinned.

Shamino shifted. “Be wary of Soth. He seems to be able to manipulate this land to his will. But outside of this realm...I would suspect his powers are weakened.” He looked at me. “You said you knew him before and he was not this powerful.”

“But why would he be more powerful here?” I asked in confusion. “It's not even his homeland...”

Shamino didn't know, of course. “Like I said, Shalilissta feared nothing until he unleashed his pain on all the Ophidians.”

I considered that. “Well, he has a shard of the Gem of Immortality...” I broke off and stared at the others. “Wait a minute... That's when he regained his powers. But it could be coincidence...”

“Minax did mention that none of you could use the gems,” Shamino pointed out. “But with his knowledge...”

“Or maybe it's because he's a necromancer?” I asked.

Shamino shook his head. “I only know he must be defeated, one way or the other.”

I let out a breath. “If Mondain can't kill him, I really don't know how we could hope to.”

“I am sure if anyone can stop him, it will be you,” Shamino told me. “The Avatar never failed us.”

Andrella grinned. “And she never will.”

I think my face was turning red again. “Well... with all of your help.” I managed a weak smile.

“So,” Andrella mused, “I guess we hold off on Soth for a while longer.”

I nodded. “We really need that Tome. I hate to think of what is happening with Lord British and all...”

Shamino smiled. “I would bet they are hoping and waiting for you.”

I grimaced a little. “As long as they aren't in pain...”

“They are strong,” Shamino reminded me.

Andrella winked. “I'm sure Dupré had enough elven wine on him at the time.”

We laughed.

“Anything they are going through,” Shamino assured me, “will be mild compared to what happens to Blackthorn.”

We laughed harder. “Oh boy, if we thought Blackthorn was bad when he was banished before,” I snickered, “do we have things to tell Lord British now! Consorting with Soth was one thing. Consorting with Mondain...”

The others nodded. Shamino commented with a small smile, “If there is one thing always annoyed Lord British, it was when Blackthorn sat in his throne.”

“Or opened moongates on it?” I snickered.

“Well, he takes naps in it now,” Andrella pointed out.

“Napping in his throne.” Shamino chuckled. “Oh boy. He is in the frying pan.”

We laughed some more. “That will be fun to see,” Andrella grinned.

“I can't wait,” I agreed. “Once we have the Tome, everything will fall into place...” They all nodded, and I turned to smile at Shamino. “I'm glad you're here, Shamino.”

He smiled back. “I am glad the Avatar has returned. I have you to thank for that.”

Better late than never, I guess...

“Well I had better get to scouting,” Shamino stretched. “I will meet you at your Shadow Keep.”

We nodded. “The gate is outside Skara Brae,” I told him.

He smirked. “I noticed.”

“And, I must say,” I grinned, “It's much nicer having a ferry to the island.” I shook my head with a smile at the memory of commandeering pirate ships...

“My house is only steps away from the Keep,” Shamino told us, which surprised me. Talk about irony. He lifted his hand in farewell. “I will meet with you soon.”

We bid him good travels, and he headed back for the teleporter. I smiled wistfully as I watched him go. The words were coming out of my mouth before I'd realized I was going to speak them.

“I remember when we got lost one time....” I shook my head at myself. “Well, I was lost and was trying to pretend I wasn't.” I giggled.

Andrella laughed. “Sounds like you,” she teased.

“I saw a cave, and thought it might be a landmark...” I smiled faintly and continued to look in the direction that Shamino had gone, even though he was no longer visible. “Shamino said, ‘This is the cyclops cave.’ I was like, ‘How did you know that?’ And he said, ‘Well, there are three cyclops over there...’”

I laughed at the memory, and Andrella joined in. “That's funny,” she giggled.

We sat and reflected for a few more minutes, then Andrella got to her feet. “Well, let's prod Lita and Starfire into business,” she winked. “Maybe they can find out something from Blackthorn while we hit the books.”

I nodded and stood up as well. A grin spread across my face as I took out the Orb of the Moons and asked what is rapidly becoming the question of the day.

“Shall I gate?”

---

[10/3/2003]

Shamino came to the Keep a few days later.

In other words, you have no clue, right?

Andrella had just given me some curious information. Our informants had learned from Blackthorn the nature of the black void golem. According to what he said, the golem is in fact the void that was left behind when the Avatar Michael was killed. I was confused about how the absence of a person could create a monster like the golems. When we mentioned this to Shamino, he mused sadly that he'd hoped it wasn't the case. He'd overheard Minax call the void ‘Michael’ before. But as far as I'm concerned, this isn't Michael at all. It's the absence of him...

“We don't know how, exactly, he was killed,” Andrella pointed out.

I nodded. “I know. ‘Twisting time’ could mean a lot of different things. I mean, did Minax just change history to stick him in front of a speeding truck or something?” I shrugged. “Who knows...”

“What's a truck?” Andrella grinned.

I blinked, then laughed. “Never mind.”

Blackthorn had also mentioned something about how if you think about Michael, the void is in your head...or something like that. That part made even less sense to me.

When Shamino arrived, we didn't get immediately to this topic, because he had a lot of his own news to tell us.

“Oh, before I forget,” Shamino began. “Like someone else did...”

He reached into his pouch. “I met Caton and he had come upon this.” Shamino handed me a rolled sheet of paper and a smooth piece of wood.

My eyes grew wide as I realized I was holding Trellik's whistle, the one I'd once used to call the wisps. “This is..!”

“Apparently,” Shamino chuckled, “Nystul was supposed to have given you that. But I guess it got ‘lost.’”

I looked up at him. “This is what he gave that guard so long ago?” And I burst out laughing.

The roll of parchment was tied with a small red string. I loosed it and unrolled the sheet, my eyes jumping straight to the signature as usual. “This is from Iolo!”

“What does it say?” Andrella asked.

I read over it and immediately realized that it was quite old. Iolo had written that he had heard from Dupré that I had returned, and was sorry he had not been there to greet me. He had been ill so he was staying at the healer's in Dawn to recover. He mentioned the whistle and said he hoped it would be useful, as he'd seen many dark wisps around Yew and feared it may portend of things to come.

Did it ever.

I passed the note to Andrella and Shamino so that they might also read it. “This is from months ago. But I'm still glad to hear from him, even if late.”

“It was turned in to Caton only a week ago,” Shamino commented. “I guess that note was lost for some time. Nystul gave it to some man who was talking to a guard at the castle. Or so it was said.”

“Didn't he say in the end it was someone like you, Ki?” Andrella chuckled.

I nodded. “Yes, he said ‘she’ looked just like me. Then he said it might have been a man.” I laughed. “I don't know what that implies.”

The others laughed as well. “Old Nystul,” Shamino chuckled. “Some things never change.”

I couldn't help but chuckle. “To think Iolo had Trellik's whistle...”

“The whistle will come in handy,” Shamino agreed. “You were just saying how the wisps told you of Armageddon before.”

I nodded. “Now just to think of what to trade with them.”

“I met your friend Sami,” Shamino smiled. “She's a smart girl. And I spoke with Tomas about the Star Sages.”

“What did he think about that?” Andrella asked.

“I have some bad news, and some not so good news.” Shamino smiled ruefully.

“Oh great,” I chuckled.

Shamino told us that the Star Sages had disbanded. He had managed to locate one, but the man had told him that the telescope was missing four critical cogs required for it to function properly. Those cogs had been divided among the other Star Sages, who were now all dead.

“I believe I can track down two of them,” Shamino said. “They are apparently somewhere in Britain. But the other two...” He sighed. “They were buried with the sages in Moonglow. And the Dread Lord Soth robbed those graves long ago.”

I made a groaning sound. “Who didn't see that one coming?” Andrella spoke wryly.

“How are we going to convince him to give us some cogs?” I sighed.

“Well, he may not know how important the cogs are,” Shamino pointed out.

“Yeah,” I agreed, “he may have tossed them who knows where.”

Shamino shook his head. “And on another note, the telescope is in disrepair. It will cost the sage almost 25,000 gold to repair it.”

That was about the best news yet. “Well, at least gold is easy enough to come by.”

Shamino nodded. “Now the not so good news.”

We stared at him. “There's more?”

He nodded again. “The sage said he can only calculate coordinates for locations in Britannia.”

“So he can't even calculate for Krynn?” I asked in despair.

“Apparently not.” He shook his head. “But it could still be useful. He could calculate for Felucca.”

I sighed. “True, but we may as well get the Tome of Stars at this rate...”

“Michael used to calculate the coordinates from his home on Earth,” Shamino commented.

I blinked. “He could do that?”

Shamino nodded, smiling a little at the memory. “He loved to look at the stars. He used to make us stop sometimes just to camp and watch the moons.”

I considered that. “Then maybe I can learn how too?”

Shamino responded, “He could only do it from Earth.” And even if I knew how to get to Earth, I probably wouldn't be able to come back, so I guess that wouldn't work.

As if sensing my thoughts, Shamino went on musingly, “He was always eager to adventure. But he was always certain we knew that he had to go home. I asked him before: What makes Earth so special? You are the Avatar here. We have two moons, Michael.”

I laughed.

Shamino smiled and finished, “He said, you know you guys are great. But my mom lives on Earth...” He shook his head with a chuckle. “The entire world here revolved around him! And yet...”

He trailed off and for a moment was silent. Then suddenly he looked at me. “Is that how you feel, Kianne?”

I was a little taken aback by the question. No one had asked me that before. “Well...” I started, collecting my thoughts. “My parents died a long time ago, so...” I shrugged.

Shamino bowed his head. “My respects.”

“I liked home, but I missed here at the same time,” I tried to explain in answer to his question. “I guess for a while I wanted to be in both places at once.” I couldn't help but chuckle wryly.

Shamino did also. “I wish it worked that way,”

“I did too.”

“So!” Shamino stood up. “I wish you luck. And I wish me luck as well.” We laughed.

“Oh, Andrella,” I remembered. “We should tell him what you heard.”

“You mean the tapestry part, right?” Andrella asked with a wicked grin.

I dropped my head onto the table. “Not the tapestry!” Why would they want to put me on a tapestry anyway? That's like the portrait that had been in Lord British's castle...

Andrella laughed. “Oh, right,” she teased, then grew serious as we explained to Shamino about the void and Michael. “Perhaps the void was created when people began to lose faith?” Andrella suggested.

“The Ages of Armageddon...” I murmured.

“Armageddon?” Shamino asked.

“It said the people had lost hope...” I shook my head.

Shamino still looked confused, causing me to realize he didn't know about the book. So I told him that I had seen the Ages of Armageddon tome when Mondain had shown it to Blackthorn.

Shamino frowned. “It was the fall of this land?”

I nodded glumly. “Two hundred years after the Ages of Enlightenment. The people had lost faith; the shrines had fallen into disrepair...”

“I never lost faith,” Shamino stated firmly. “I still believe I will see Michael one day.”

But he was dead. But I didn't want to point that out to him. Who knows, maybe he was right.

“I wonder what shard he got that book from though,” I mused absently.

Shamino shrugged. “Minax did have gates that could travel in time.”

I stared at him. “You don't think he got it from this shard's future..!?”

He just shook his head. I frowned. “Mondain said the future could change,” I mentioned, and smiled grimly. “I vowed then that we sure would change it.”

Shamino smiled. “I know you will.” Then he stood up again. “We will have to speak much more on this soon.”

We nodded, but I was feeling a little dejected that the telescope wasn't going to be of any use to us after all, so I pointed this out to them. “We can't even get Soth to Krynn...”

“As far as Krynn coordinates, a last resort would be to ask Soth.” Andrella shrugged.

“I was thinking about that,” Shamino mused. “Blackthorn summoned him here...and promised to send him back.”

“And then he just froze him instead,” I noted. “Which would still be an improvement...”

Shamino shrugged. “He must know something.”

I considered that. Andrella pointed out, “He did get your bow, Kianne. And my armor.”

“And Connor's sword,” Sygil chimed in.

“That's right!” I realized.

“He obviously knows how to jump dimensions,” Andrella concluded.

“Do you think Mondain helped him with that?”

No one could answer that. Shamino spoke up that consulting Blackthorn should be a second to last resort. I had to agree with him. Soth won't tell you the full story, and Blackthorn flat-out lies. I'm really not sure which is worse.

“To me, saving Lord British is our primary task,” I mused. “So we can either get the Tome of Stars, or the cogs...” Or both, perhaps, if we could spare the manpower...

Shamino started for the door. “I will go track the two cogs that I know of.”

We bade him farewell, then got into a discussion of the wisps. I sat at the table rolling the whistle in my fingers and tried to explain my previous encounters with them. We enumerated the various things we'd want to ask them. The black void golem seemed primary. But information about Felucca in general, or the location of Krynn, would help as well. I pointed out that I wasn't sure if they would give us coordinates that would work with the Orb.

“We'll have to be specific about what we want,” I mused. That sparked a brief discussion over how exactly we would phrase our question. Finally I laughed.

“It's not like wishing on a bottle,” I giggled. “What I mean is we probably will have to narrow it down to just a single topic we wish information about.”

“It'd be good to find out what the black void golem is,” Andrella mused. “Because I'm starting to wonder if it's the Avatar's spirit trapped.”

I went still. “Trapped?”

She shrugged. “Wouldn't it be better to release Michael than to kill him?”

I just stared at her. Ayla and Sygil were silent. Finally Andrella shrugged again. “Just thinking out loud, really.”

I frowned. “Do you think...maybe we can speak with it, then?”

“What if it was intelligent?” she replied. “I've seen stranger things.”

I tapped the whistle against the table thoughtfully as I considered that. “Something else,” I mused. “I wonder if we could cast Mark in Felucca.”

“Why's that?” Andrella asked.

“If we can get coordinates, we can go there whenever we need, using the Orb of the Moons,” I noted. “We just need to Mark and stick the rune in a book.”

Everyone nodded. Andrella commented, “I don't believe that you can, but we could try it.”

“Soth said it works if the rune is outside the book,” I reminded them. Then I let out a sigh. “But Soth Recalls without chanting, so...”

I grumbled. The others snickered.

“Should we consider asking about Pagan?” I asked, getting back on topic. “Last time the wisps told me about the Guardian. I don't know if we could get coordinates or not, but...”

Andrella nodded. “It wouldn't hurt to ask the wisps.” Then she grinned and snickered a little. “We don't get only one question do we?”

“No, we can keep trading with them as long as we have good information, but...” Suddenly I got to my feet. “Oh, what the heck. There's no harm in just calling the wisps now. We may as well go see what they say.”

Andrella grinned and nodded. “Let's do it.”

“I usually see them around Yew,” I commented as we all trooped outside.

Andrella had bought another town runebook, so she made a gate to Yew. This one put us inside Empath Abbey. “What a spot for a gate,” I giggled as we worked out way outside the building.

“Hey, don't look at me, I just bought the book,” she returned with a grin.

We worked our way south from the Abbey, into the forest. Finally we stopped next to a giant yew tree. I took out the whistle and blew into it. It produces an almost tinkling sound much like the wisps make.

We waited for a moment, then I tried again.

“There!” Sygil spoke up, pointing southeast.

A wisp was moving toward us.

We closed the gap and stood before it, greeting it. The wisp glowed silently for a moment, twinkling. Finally, like music to my ears, it spoke.

“‘You’ are the entity who calls in the manner of an Emp.” I nodded, and the wisp pulsed. “‘You’ are the Avatar Kianne Cassidy.”

I was a little surprised, but only a little. The wisps had recognized me as the Avatar before. “Aye,” I said. “We would like to trade some information.”

The wisp glowed. “Xorinia knows this. ‘You’ have exchanged information with Xorinia before.”

Again I nodded. The wisp considered me. Finally, it said, “Xorinia wonders how ‘you’ are in this dimension and not ‘your’ own.”

I let out a wry chuckle. “That...is a long story.”

The wisp seemed to be conferring silently. “This long story is not known to Xorinia,” it noted finally.

I went still as the words struck a sort of giddy inspiration. Don't tell me... “Could we perhaps do a trade?” I suggested hopefully.

“What is the information ‘you’ have to trade for the Undarian Council?” the wisp asked. “This long story?”

I nodded with bated breath. “If it is acceptable.”

“And what is the information ‘you’ seek?”

I glanced briefly at the others. We hadn't really come to a consensus, but I think I knew the answer. “We would like information about the black void golem.”

The wisp pulsed. “Xorinia recognizes ‘your’ useful information and accepts the trade.”

I grinned in relief. Then I realized I didn't exactly have the goods to hand over. “How would be best to deliver the story?”

“Xorinia will listen now, or a ‘book’ as ‘you’ call it may be easier for ‘you.’”

I didn't think everyone would appreciate standing here for several hours as I tried to explain everything to the wisps. “A book can be done, but will take a little time.”

“Time is free to everyone,” the wisp replied. “The cost is acceptable.”

“Very well,” I said. “Shall we call you when we have the book?”

“To call is acceptable to Xorinia.”

“It will be done, then.” I nodded my head. “Farewell.” And then I cut off the wisp's possible response, “I know I don't have to say farewell, but...it's custom.” I grinned.

“‘You’ are not leaving this dimension?” the wisp asked.

I shook my head. “Not yet, anyway.”

“Then there is no ‘farewell,’” the wisp pointed out logically. “Xorinia will wait. ‘I’ will be in the ‘wood.’”

The wisp wandered off.

We headed back to the Keep. I quickly Recalled to town to buy some parchment and more ink. Then I settled down at the table in the Keep. The others sat around me, eating and chatting, providing companionship while I tried to get all of the words onto paper. The thought had crossed my mind to offer them this journal, but I am afraid there is still sensitive information in here that should not get out. Wisps are in the business of trading information, and generally are neither good nor evil. So it's wise to never give them anything you are worried about getting around. You never know who might decide to trade for it. Heck, last time they'd traded information to the Guardian... well, never mind that.

So I wrote as many details into the account as I could without giving away anything that might be dangerous to us. I told briefly about the Black Gate's explosion, my wandering of the universe, and the different shards of Britannia. The existence of separate shards are common knowledge around here, after all, even though most people think it is a myth. I mentioned the death of the Avatar Michael, and my subsequently becoming Avatar in his place, without going into too much detail, and without naming Mondain. Minax was no trouble, since she is no longer a secret to us, but Mondain has not yet shown himself to us openly. In case they get any of this information, best to not give them any suspicion that we saw and heard things we shouldn't have...

Finally, several hours later, I leaned back in my chair. “Whew. Sometimes I wish I had an eraser.”

“What's an eraser?” Ayla asked.

“Never mind,” I laughed. “Here, what do you think?”

I passed the book around. “Wow, it's amazing!” Andrella grinned.

I shook out my tired wrist. “Ugh. My wrist hurts. But I hope it will do. I think it's about as done as it's going to get.”

The others briefly looked through it, but they couldn't take the time to read it all, or we'd be sitting here another three hours, heh. Finally they handed it back and we all got to our feet. Andrella made another gate to Yew, and we retraced our steps to the forest. Once we were standing next to the yew tree, I got out the whistle again and blew it.

“It is coming,” Sygil announced, and we turned to face the wisp that approached us.

“Greetings again,” I said, and took out the tome I had written. “I have the information requested.”

The wisp pulsed. “The ‘book’ is welcomed. ‘I’ shall now absorb the information contained therein.”

We waited while the wisp glowed brightly for a few moments. “‘I’ have completed my absorption of the information about Kianne Cassidy,” the wisp said at last. I waited hopefully. “It is interesting to the Undarian Council. The information ‘you’ seek is granted.”

We grinned at each other.

“The ‘Black Void Golem,’ as known to the human entities, is actually the lost place in time for the boy known as ‘Michael.’ It is a hole in the dimensions.”

A hole in the dimensions! Suddenly I understood. Minax had literally torn him from space and time...?

“‘Michael’ seeks sustenance by absorbing that which was his,” the wisp went on. “‘He’ was the Avatar of this ‘shard.’ Therefore the hole grows to take this ‘shard’ with him.”

I risked a glance at the others. They were staring in various stages of astonishment and even a bit of the horror that I was feeling myself. Ayla, Sygil, and Balinor had come late into the conversation at the Keep, so they hadn't heard all of this yet...

“This ‘shard’ existed because of him,” the wisp explained. “Without him the ‘shard’ also seeks to equalize in the dimensions of time.”

I was listening with intense concentration, trying to soak everything in. Therefore, the wisp took me by surprise when it suddenly asked, “Does Kianne Cassidy wish to stop ‘him’?”

I blinked, and paused to word my answer carefully. “We wish to...put a stop to the void, yes. Help Michael, if we can.”

The wisp gave a pulse of light. “‘Michael’ also needs the help ‘you’ offer,” it said, surprising me again. “By destroying the black void, ‘you’ help ‘him.’”

“How can we destroy the golem?” I asked, hoping the wisp wouldn't mind questions.

It replied without hesitation, “It requires an item of this ‘shard’ that has equal power to the ‘void.’ That item is the ‘skull of Mondain.’”

I stared at the wisp. So it all boils down to this...? Does it all come back to Armageddon?

But luckily the wisp was not finished. “If ‘the skull’ is thrown into the void, the two will seek to balance each other in all dimensions. By destroying both, ‘you’ help the one known as ‘Michael.’”

I felt a thread of excitement flow through me. Like throwing the skull into the Abyss! “Can we get close enough to the void to throw the skull?” I was worried about what Shamino and others had said, that the void would simply swallow us and that would be that.

“‘You’ can,” the wisp responded, and I felt a flicker of unease. Why had it said ‘you’ when I'd used the word ‘we’? I suspected it was not a simple matter of the wisps' lack of comprehension of singular entities. A moment later my suspicions were confirmed when the wisp continued, “‘He’ cannot absorb ‘you’ as ‘you’ hold the item that can destroy ‘him.’”

So that's why Shalilissta didn't fear the golem. It wasn't just that she could use the skull to destroy it, but that it couldn't harm her at all as long as she had the skull. Of course, this also meant I would have to go alone. Well, there were worse things. “Where is the golem?”

“‘I’ cannot locate ‘the void golem.’ No energy emits from the core existence of a void; therefore ‘I’ cannot comply with ‘your’ request.”

Not to mention, I thought wryly, that nothing is alive in Felucca. And therefore the wisps have nothing to trade with for the information. Nor would they be able to survive there themselves, I imagine. Oh well, it was worth a try. “I understand.”

“Is this information acceptable to Kianne Cassidy?” the wisp asked.

I nodded and smiled. “It is. Thank you for the trade.”

The wisp made another pulse. “Xorinia is returning the feeling of ‘thanks.’” I grinned. Hey, maybe we can influence them after all. “Xorinia is going to speak with the Undarian Council,” the wisp added. “As ‘we’ are to leave this dimension, this is ‘farewell’ until ‘you’ call again.”

I dipped my head in understanding. “Until we meet again.”

We stood and smiled as we watched the wisp shimmer and vanish.

Back at the Keep, I looked at the others ruefully. “I hate to say this, but, I may have to go alone. From the way the wisp was talking, I'm not sure anyone else would be protected from the golem...”

Andrella nodded thoughtfully. “It sounds as though only the holder of the skull will be safe.”

“I hate to have to leave you all behind, but...” I shrugged.

“But will you be safe, Ki?” Ayla asked worriedly.

“As long as I hold the skull, they said...”

“But what about the regular monsters?” Balinor pointed out.

“Maybe if we stand behind you?” Andrella suggested.

I shrugged helplessly. “The problem is, we don't know exactly where the golem is, and we only have one facet stone. And I'm afraid if we land right near the golem... I don't want any of you erased.”

“Can you shrink Sygil with a potion and carry him in your pack?” Ayla teased. I almost fell over laughing at just the thought.

Finally I was able to grow serious again. “We could ask Blackthorn for the golem's location.”

“The facet stone was Blackthorn's idea for a one way ticket to the golem, I think,” Andrella chuckled.

I nodded. “But it would still work. I could use the Orb to get back.”

“But I'm wondering if we would be able to go with you...” Andrella looked thoughtful. “Minax is there... I can't let you go there alone.”

I had forgotten about Minax. “Erm... If we knew where the golem was, I could just run in and throw?” I suggested with a weak smile.

Everyone snickered. “Now you know it can't be that easy,” Andrella winked.

“I could use the cloak,” I chuckled. But then I wouldn't be able to throw the skull once I found the void...

“I say we slow down a bit here,” Andrella smirked. “I know you are anxious, but it's better we get the information we need before we go off gallivanting around.”

“I'll be very careful!” I tried with a grin.

She laughed out loud. “You, careful?”

We giggled for a bit, then finally I sighed a little, swallowing impatience. “At least we are a lot closer. The difficult question is answered. If we can pinpoint the golem's location, we'd know where to use the facet stone.”

“Watch it be in the Abyss,” Andrella snickered.

I groaned a little. “It'd be appropriate...”

Andrella suddenly decided, “Let's go ask Blackthorn, and see what happens.”

We all agreed, so Andrella tried to make a gate to Lord British's castle. But the anti-magic barriers around the castle prevented the gate from working. I pulled out the Orb and my runebook. “Let me try my rune.” Then a sly grin crossed my face as I had a sudden thought.

“Kal Ort Por!” I chanted, and vanished.

“Thanks a lot, Ki!!” Andrella called to me teasingly using telepathy.

I formed a moongate back to the Keep using the Orb and grinned at the others as they came through. “Hey, at least I sent you a gate,” I teased back, and we all had a good laugh.

We cheerfully walked across the drawbridge and found Blackthorn. He seemed as happy to see us as usual, which amused me as usual.

“We're ready for the location of the black void golem,” I told him flat out.

He looked at us suspiciously. “Oh, are you...?”

I nodded. “You told us to let you know when we were ready. You don't have the Tome yet, right?” It was just a small jab, and apparently it went over his head, which was all well and good in the end.

“Now was that before or after you had the Orb of Moons?” Blackthorn murmured as if to himself, and I found myself taken aback.

“Pardon?” I frowned.

“Oh...I mean...” Blackthorn grinned slyly. “I have heard whispers that Shamino walks the land again. Do you know about this?”

“Crap,” Andrella muttered so quietly only those of us standing next to her could hear her. My emotions mirrored her sentiments.

Rather than answering, I tried to avoid the issue entirely. “We're here about the black void golem. I thought you were in a hurry?”

“Now see, we have had a slight alteration in our plans,” Blackthorn told us. “I mean... I have been giving this some thought.”

Uh huh. We didn't let on that we knew full well that Minax must have told him that we had the Orb of the Moons and that we'd freed Shamino.

“It may too dangerous for you,” Blackthorn said patronizingly. “So I will handle the danger of the golem. You stay safe and go collect some tickets or something.”

“You would risk the throne?” I asked him sarcastically. “I didn't know the ‘king’ was supposed to do that.”

“For you, of course I would,” Blackthorn grinned. “For the Avatar!”

Andrella made an impatient noise. I let out a sigh of exasperation. “Blackthorn, we are all ready. Just give us the location and it will be done.”

“Calm down, I will handle this,” Blackthorn assured us. “Give me some time to think of a new plan.” Under his breath, he tacked on, “...for your demise...”

Not surprising, it kind of went downhill from there. Blackthorn taunted that he was busy mapping Navien's banishment map. I guess he wants to send him lots to of different places, for different periods of time. Andrella went from impatient to annoyed, and Sygil drew the Black Sword, which promptly got him jailed.

So then of course we had to pay the fine, or the tax, or whatever the heck it was Blackthorn was calling it today. He was counting out taxes on his fingers. I commented privately to Andrella that at least he wasn't using an abacus. I shouldn't have said anything, because moments later he ran to fetch one. He added some ridiculous taxes, like a tax on the color green. Even so, the total came out to be less than fifty thousand, and Balinor gave him a gold bar from Shalilissta's treasures. Blackthorn wasn't able to argue with an extra ten thousand or so in change, so he allowed Sygil to be released.

We knew we weren't going to accomplish anything, so we left after that. “Keep an eye out for Shamino!” Blackthorn called after us as we were walking out. “I really need to see him...”

In your dreams, I thought.

---

[10/9/2003]

This evening we went to Sami's house for dinner. Tomas had invited us all through Shamino. During the meal, Tomas told us about their troubles with Blackthorn and Hook. It seems that if someone can't pay their taxes, Blackthorn sends Hook to “persuade” them. Figures. If we can ever manage to find Hook...

Shamino also told us that he'd traced one of the cogs to Oakley. So now we just need a plan to get it from him.

After the dinner, we arrived at the Keep to a rather unpleasant surprise. A blind gargoyle was standing there, as if waiting for us.

“Karmagash!” Shamino identified warily, and pulled out his bow.

The gargoyle chuckled. “Shamino...”

“Karmagash?” I repeated, my bow already in my hand, but the gargoyle wasn't moving at all, so I remained still as well.

“Karmagash, the eyes of Gratagmalem King,” Shamino responded grimly.

“Even the Avatar is among you,” Karmagash smirked.

Andrella had her sword and shield out. “State your business here.”

“I am here for you,” the gargoyle said simply, turning his haunting milky eyes to fasten her with his blind gaze.

She chuckled. “Ahh, not happy about Lash I take it?”

“To be not happiness we seek,” he pointed out. “You are strong indeed. To be said by Gratagmalem King himself. To have brought your reward.”

Andrella blinked as he tossed her one of the jagged blades that Lash had used.

“To take one of his twin blades,” Karmagash told her. “To fight Gratagmalem himself with it. If you survive to get there.”

Andrella examined the blade and frowned, then lifted her gaze. “Fight him?”

“To not confuse respect with kindness,” Karmagash said. “You killed a swordsgarg. A very strong one. His second blade is passed to the next strongest swordsgarg: Gratagmalem King himself.”

“No confusion there,” Andrella chuckled.

Karmagash turned to me. “And a message I bring to from him for the Avatar.”

I looked at him in surprise.

“Gratagmalem is King of the underworld now. To be respected as the King even if you do not like him the same. To be known, he earned his crown from the former.”

“Earned?” I repeated.

“Draxinusom is given his title to Gratagmalem. It is said you once spoke with the old King.”

I nodded.

“To be known that he is not King anymore and to be insulted greatly if you said so.”

“I respect that, but...”

“Gratagmalem King has chosen to join us with Minax,” Karmagash reminded us. “It is a choice we make. For the Avatar failed in our time of need...”

“What!?” I gasped.

“Gratagmalem will not be forgot,” Karmagash finished.

The others made noises of protest. Shamino watched the gargoyle with narrowed eyes. “You mean Michael.”

Karmagash nodded. “To be not allied with the Avatar any longer. Or ever again.”

“What did he fail to do?” I asked slowly, my wording purposeful. For the Avatar did not fail them by his actions, but rather by his death. This I already knew, for he would not have failed them in any other way.

“To protect the Vortex Lens,” the gargoyle responded, and I felt a bit of surprise. It was destroyed? “A failed Avatar did promise us to be never worried again.” Karmagash looked a little disgusted. “It is known you judge a race by its leader.”

“Erm, not exactly...” I murmured, thinking of Blackthorn.

Karmagash shrugged. “To be seen in dealings with the serpent queen. To not ask. Gratagmalem is very clear that we have joined Minax. For you to respect the choice of gargoyle king...even if war it brings.”

“Oh, it will bring war...” Andrella assured him grimly.

“Then it is what we seek.” Karmagash shrugged again. “Know that Gratagmalem is king...and to know he hates the Avatar. To prepare your weapons now, for I am to die against you.”

I made a noise of surprise, but Karmagash was already attacking. Shamino and I fired arrows while Andrella, Ayla, and Sygil attacked him melee. Karmagash really had no chance, and I can't see why he persisted in fighting for no reason, only to die...

When the battle was over I could only stand and shake my head, sighing. The others looked saddened as well.

“He truly was blind,” Sygil murmured.

I agreed. “We could work with them if they'd let us...”

“I have wondered why they serve Minax...” Shamino murmured. “Michael did not fail them.”

We all shook our heads in agreement.

“What happened to the Lens?” I asked Shamino.

“I don't know. That is the first time I have heard them talk of him since Gratag is the king.”

I frowned and considered that. “Do you know where the Codex is?”²

“In the void, I believe.”

Where the Avatar had placed it, so that both humans and gargoyles could benefit from it. I nodded slowly, then sighed again.

In the silence that followed, I glanced at Shamino's bow and thought to ask, “The bow works well?”

“The bow works, not the user.” He chuckled. Then as if remembering, he added, “I was scouting around Yew, and I noticed the crypts are guarded by gargoyles. Why is that?”

“That's where the Black Gate was,” I responded, and we told him about it. “But I don't know why they are still so interested in it...”

“I need to find that last cog,” Shamino said finally, then teased, “I always get the easy parts. You have to get the cog, I just find them.”

We chuckled.

Shamino turned to leave, but paused to comment to me, “You should be very careful.”

I laughed. “Me? Careful?”

Andrella joined in, “She's carefully getting herself into trouble.”

“Oh, and you'd better be careful too,” I told Shamino, remembering. “Naturally Blackthorn knows about you.”

Shamino smiled slightly. “Blackthorn is little compared to an army of gargoyles after you.”

I sighed. If only we could have worked something out with them...

---

[10/10/2003]

I have spent a lot of time talking with the others and reflecting. After the unfruitful discussion with Blackthorn, I was about ready to say the heck with it all: We have the Felucca moonstone. All we need to do is use it somewhere--anywhere--and search from that location until we find the golem. For a while, rebuilding the telescope seemed to me to be a waste of time at this point, as the priority for me is freeing Lord British, and everything else which does not directly lead to that goal takes a back seat in my mind.

But Andrella and the others have been reasonable and on further reflection, I see now that this would be irresponsible. If we went to Felucca we could potentially spend weeks exploring before we discovered the golem's location, as there is a lot of ground to cover. There are no healers in Felucca--we would have to depend on each other, and if all of us fell, it wouldn't matter if we became ghosts or not, because we would be trapped there with no way out. While this does not deter me in and of itself, the fact remains that if something happened to us, there would be no way left for anyone to free Lord British and the others. That is a risk we honestly can't take. Britannia itself rests in the balance.

So our next best bet is to repair the telescope, get the coordinates of Felucca that way, and tread our path carefully. If we can't discover the golem's exact location before we leave, at the very least we would be able to travel to and from Felucca as often as needed to restock on supplies and so forth. We would also be able to save time by calculating coordinates for various locations, trying out places until we hit on something promising.

On that end, we went to Soth's lair to try to get his two cogs. The encounter started out amusing. Soth was busy making his little army of undead, using a zombie to do the grunt work since he is ethereal and unable to touch anything. We stopped on the other side of the locked gate, where we could see at least part of what he was doing.

“What a surprise,” he greeted dryly. “You finally came.”

“Finally?” I repeated, but Soth didn't hear me.

“Egor!” he snapped at the zombie. “Enough!”

“Egor?” I smirked. “Is this a bad horror film?”

“What's a film?” Ayla asked.

“Anyway...” Andrella started.

“It's so hard to work when my hands can't hold tools.” Soth shrugged.

“What war are you fighting now?” I asked in disgust.

“What war?” he repeated as if I'd just said the stupidest thing in the world.

“What point is an army if there's no war?” Andrella smirked.

“Oh, you're going to take out Minax?” I asked innocently.

“The gargoyles, fools,” Soth snapped.

“The gargoyles?” Hmm...

“Someone has to.” Soth shrugged and started to say more, but then he got distracted again. “Egor!”

“Did you happen to dig up any sage graves? We're looking for two cogs...” Andrella began again, but Soth wasn't listening. Apparently the zombie wasn't doing its job right, so finally Soth killed it in disgust and grumbled under his breath.

“Hard finding good help, isn't it?” I snickered.

Soth shrugged. “I guess it is. Around this forsaken world anyway. I remember in Krynn, I had armies of men at my beck and call.”

I eyed him. “You want to go back there, don't you?”

“Of course I want to go back.” Soth gave me a look. “That sounds like something Blackthorn would say.”

Andrella let out a sigh and lost her patience. “COGS!” she yelled, trying to get his attention. “LITTLE GOLDEN CIRCLES WITH RIDGES!”

It certainly worked. Soth turned to look at her. “Cogs?” he repeated.

“SEEN ANY!?” she practically bellowed. I was fighting to keep myself from laughing.

Soth eyed her. “Have I seen any cogs...” he repeated slowly.

“Yeah, dug any up?” I prodded him.

He glanced at me. “Is she serious? I am creating an army to fight against the gargoyles...I am preparing to launch an attack against a force of great power...”

“And we want cogs. Yes.” I nodded.

Soth regarded us for a moment. “This is a bad joke.”

We sighed. “Cogs will help us get your rotten corpse outta here...how about that?” Andrella snapped.

“I would suppose you don't mean just any cogs,” Soth mused.

“Nope, not just any cogs. Why, do you stash them or something?” Andrella retorted.

Soth shook his head. “I am trying to find out what the hell you fools are talking about. Don't play little mind games,” he grumbled.

“It's not a mind game!” I retorted.

He went on as if he didn't hear me, “Hinting that you need cogs...”

“HINTING!?” Andrella sputtered.

Soth shrugged. “Tell me about them.”

Andrella rolled her eyes. “I screamed it into your face.”

I nodded with a smirk. “I liked her phrasing too. Little round golden things with ridges I think she said...”

“If you want cogs go talk to a tinker,” Soth grumbled, and walked away.

“Hey!” we yelled, and kept up the racket until he came back.

Soth had brought back another zombie helper, but this one didn't appear to be any better than the last one. He killed it almost immediately, but not before it raised a fuss with the rest of his army.

“As you can see,” he growled at us once he'd settled everything down, “I am not in a good mood.”

“So just give us the cogs and we'll leave,” I told him.

“What cogs?” he retorted. “I don't have any!”

“If you found cogs on some dead corpses...that's what we're looking for,” Andrella told him.

“I raise hundreds of corpses,” he shrugged. “You think I have need for their treasure? I let them keep the garbage. They still have it. That's why you fools like to loot them.”

I blinked. “They're still on the bodies?” Then I nearly smacked my head. “So go get them off your little followers!”

He glared at me. “This is ridiculous. What do you expect of me?”

“Fine then, open the gate and let us get them off your followers,” I retorted. “Makes no difference to me.”

Soth was silent for a moment, as if considering. “I'll check them,” he said finally, and moved among his ranks.

We waited.

“No cogs,” he announced as he returned to us.

“Did you check them all?” I asked dryly.

“Yes, I checked them all,” he said impatiently. “I don't have many left right now. I sent most of them against the gargoyles.”

“Hoy,” I sighed.

“In order for us to send you home, we will need these cogs,” Andrella spoke up.

But once again, Soth wasn't listening. “You know, it would be so much easier if you fought the gargoyles. I hear Andrella really hurt the swordsgarg...”

“Not really any of your business though,” I reminded him.

He looked at me. “Kianne, my business is finding weakness of my enemies. Even Xorinia traded me information about you.”

I nearly fell over. “I figured that'd get out,” I sighed.

“I know all about your little trip through dimensions.”

“‘All’ that I wrote you mean,” I reminded him dryly.

“But the strange thing is,” he finished, “you should be the one who understands me. Yet, you are the last one who will.”

Why should I understand a bag of evil who gets his kicks killing people? “I don't understand why you make it so frustrating for us when we're your ticket out,” I grumbled.

“My ticket out?” he repeated. “I hoped that. But now look. You have the Orb of Moons and I am still here.”

He's way too well informed. “And no coordinates!” I snapped. “How do we get you anywhere if I don't know where I am aiming!?”

“Coordinates won't help you,” Soth returned. “You really don't know anything, do you? You have the Orb and don't even know how to use it...”

“She knows how to use it,” Andrella retorted.

“Coordinates will help you on this little world,” Soth told us. “But to open a portal to another dimension...” He shook his head. “Come on. Surely you know.”

But I didn't, and it was frustrating me that I didn't. “Tell us how to get you to Krynn and I'll send you there.”

He shook his head. “I need my body back. If I told you, you would only banish me without my body.”

I wanted to fall over. “We can't give you your body back! Even if we wanted...”

“You can help me,” he responded. “If I get Minax in a bind, I will force her to give me my flesh back.”

Uh huh.

“But she is not like the Ophidians,” he finished. “Those gargoyles are very calculated. Much better fighters then the snakes. I need help to wound her gargoyle army.”

I never imagined I'd hear Soth say he needs help...

“Well, we need those cogs,” Andrella said finally. “Even if you say they won't help, we want them.”

“I don't have any cogs,” he repeated.

“You're saying you never dug up the grave of a sage?” she asked.

Soth looked intrigued. “Well, look at that. Now we are getting somewhere. You know who had the cog?”

I wanted to fall over again. “She only said that in the beginning!”

“Did she?” He shrugged. “Who had the cog you seek?”

“I don't know any names,” Andrella responded. “I just know there were two sages that had cogs.”

“Okay, let me get my mind to work since you won't,” Soth mused. “Sages are usually from Moonglow and Wind. Which is it?”

He clearly wasn't going to give us what we wanted until he knew why we wanted them. I glared at him in frustration.

“Moonglow,” Andrella snapped out finally.

He nodded as if he'd expected it. “Some of the strongest skeletal mages came from there. And there were two in particular that interested me... Skeletal Star Sages.”

I blinked in surprise, and Soth smirked.

“You should have said so. The look in your eyes gives it away. You wanted to hide from me the reasons you want the cogs, but I know now. You want to repair the telescope.”

Way too well informed.

“We want the cogs from the Star Sages,” Andrella growled. “If I must say it that way.”

He nodded. “Then that's better. But the star sages can't even help you.” Then he smirked. “Actually I should say: they can't help me.”

“Well who cares?” Andrella responded impatiently. “Give us the cogs, they will help us. In the interim we will continue to work on getting you out.”

“How will you continue to get me out?” he asked dryly.

“We are working on a plan to get coordinates to Krynn,” she reminded him. “Not to mention you say you know about traveling through dimensions. Tell us how.”

“I will tell you, if I could trust you.” He shrugged.

“You want us to help you with the gargoyles?” Andrella snapped. “I have already made an arrangement to fight Gratagmalem.”

“Oh?” Soth looked interested.

“We don't have time for that,” I protested to her impatiently.

Andrella was already responding to Soth, “That is what this blade is for.” She was holding Lash's sword in her hand.

Soth nodded. “Now that is interesting. The gargoyles are skilled. I want them all dead. If they did not protect Minax, I would have already defeated her. But alas...I am forced to deal with yet another obstacle.”

“And so are we,” I grated out in frustration.

Soth shrugged. “So here is my plan. I tell you where to find the star sages corpses after you kill the gargoyle known as LemaKara. Simple.”

This was so maddening I felt like throwing something. “We can't very well kill them if we can't get to them!”

Andrella chimed in with agreement, “We need coordinates. Again. Helloo...”

But to my surprise, Soth said, “Oh, she is here in Trammel. And in my way at the moment.” He looked us over. “If I tell you her location, will you kill her?”

“Yes,” Andrella said.

“The Yew Crypts. They have been very busy there lately.”

Figures.

“Yet another trade with the devil...” Andrella muttered as we turned our backs and left.

We traveled to the Yew Crypts and discovered the gargoyles immediately. In fact as soon as I entered the room I was hit with a spell so staggering it nearly blew me off my feet and literally shredded the cloth tunic I was wearing over my chainmail. I was a little disoriented as the others battled the gargoyles there, and the next thing I knew, a gargoyle with a flowing blue cape and a blue staff was walking toward us.

“To be the Avatar has come!” LemaKara called out with an evil grin.

“Are you sure this can't be discussed?” I asked warily.

She said something about striking those who are weaker. I really didn't understand what she meant. The next moment she was hitting us with a rapid flurry of Chain Lightning spells.

I tried to ask her about the Lens, but she wasn't listening to anything we said. She kept hitting us with Lightning spells and interspersing those with a few healing spells on herself. She couldn't heal fast enough to undo the damage we were doing to her, though. Particularly Andrella. The battle didn't last very long before LemaKara had fallen.

We sighed a little and shook our heads.

Andrella gathered the gargoyle's equipment and divided it among us. She gave me LemaKara's staff, which I discovered was an Air Elemental staff. LemaKara's Element had clearly been Air, which I found rather ironic as I had just obtained an Air Elemental sword myself in the past few days.

We were about to leave the crypts when Soth showed up.

“This is more like it,” he praised us, standing right by the corpse.

We glared at him.

He got the message. “The star sages were quite a powerful pair, for skeletal mages,” he began. “So I sent them with a small army against the Teraths some time ago.” He shrugged. “They were not as strong as I thought, so they died at the gates of their lair.”

Terathans. Great.

“So go to my hideout,” Soth finished. “I will have Shevilia drop a rune that is marked near the location of their demise. The Teraths are like you--they loot the dead. So the cogs are probably stashed somewhere near.”

Andrella got to the point. “So in other words we have to fight the Teraths?” she asked in disgust.

Soth grinned evilly. “Oh yes.”

“It figures,” Andrella grumbled, but we turned away to prepare to head for the Hedge Maze.

“Come tell your pet to drop that rune,” I said over my shoulder to Soth.

But he shook his head. “I have to summon some dead to help me gather these bones. I can't leave this body here.”

“Soth!” we protested in disgust.

He just grinned at us.

There wasn't realistically anything we could do to stop him, so we left him there and traveled to the Hedge Maze. Shevilia, Soth's undead dragon, was waiting on the other side of the gate. He'd apparently already told her what to do, because she had the rune all ready for us.

We took the rune and left, deciding finally to wait until morning to head for the Terathan lair. It was late and we were quite tired, so it would be better to get some rest first.

I wrote down the rune's coordinates in my book, however, as I have been doing with every rune I come across now...

---

¹ In Ultima 7, blackrock was rare and immutable aside from using magic.

² The Codex of Ultimate Wisdom is a magical book which can only be viewed by those deemed worthy. Typically when viewed, it allows only a specific page to be read, which contains only the information that is needed at that time.

---

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