Chapter 18
Eighteen
Ispent hours reading old reports from the Core City Watch and complaints from the neighbors from back when it was called Korthican’s Landing, before things went horribly wrong there and it’d been renamed Korthican’s Warning.
Between those papers and the more recent stories I’d gotten from the locals, I felt like I was starting to understand why Carcalla was so interested in the place.
They finally threw me out of the library that night so they could close, and I returned to the Under Slump. I made it home late without getting accosted or having to set anyone on fire and went straight to bed.
In the morning, I got the student council together so I could share my findings.
“The chair hereby calls this meeting to order.” Rade thumped his fist against the table that Bognar had built for us out of some planks.
“And I shall begin by noting my disappointment that we’re meeting in our kitchen rather than our usual establishment, which has decent beer and good-looking serving wenches. ”
“There’s a very good reason for that, which I will explain.”
“Come now, Carnavon. I know Azarin spent most of our winnings on element and supplies in the market yesterday—”
Azarin interrupted him to say, “Let the record show that I got us some excellent deals.”
“I’m certain you did, but surely there was enough left for us to buy a round of drinks or two.”
“As secretary, am I supposed to remember all this talking or just the part where you humans say let the record show?”
I lifted one hand, indicating the need for silence.
“Responding in order… Rade, this discussion needs to be in private away from prying ears, we probably should have never mentioned in public where we’re going to begin with, and I’ll explain why.
Azarin, thank you for taking care of that.
And, Trax, don’t worry about that right now, because we’ve got a bigger problem. ”
“Bigger problems than our pending dangerous adventure, our murderous landlord, or being saddled with his Latrocinium spy?” Azarin laughed at the absurdity of our situation. “Worse than that?”
“Yeah, it is. Possibly much worse.”
My somber response dampened their good moods. Even Krachma looked up from his bowl of oatmeal to see what was so serious.
“I found out that Korthican, who that island is named after, was a very powerful wizard. He was one of the many Councilmen who died five hundred years ago, stopping the surprise invasion that came through the time gate.”
It was ironic for me to be telling them about this now, as it was Eternaday, or the Quiet Day as most called it now, since it was the one day of the week the Nexus wasn’t open to another realm.
The Great Machine was currently rotating past a gate that was forever sealed, protecting us from the evil that had taken over the Elemental Plane of Time.
“Every child knows that story.” Rade waved one hand dismissively.
“One morning, the gate opened as it always does, only instead of travelers and traders waiting, it was an unspeakable evil which promptly began slaughtering its way across the Core. Heroes fought back. We won. We locked that gate, and there’s been no access to the Realm of Time ever since.
So on and so forth. What’s that ancient history got to do with us? ”
“Resources?”
Rade scowled, confused. “You’ve lost me.”
“A high-ranking elf wizard once told me that stopping the invasion wasn’t the victory most of us think it is. It was really the beginning of the end for the Core.”
Rade snorted. “Five hundred years is a long time for an ending!”
“When that gate got sealed, we lost access to ever getting any more of one of the seven elements. Permanence. The stuff that makes spells last longer or forever. What was already here was here, there will never be another resupply, and that’s what makes it so valuable.”
“Yeah, you can’t even buy it in the market,” Azarin said. “I’ve asked. Any Permanence that turns up gets seized by the Council. They say they need it to keep the Great Machine turning.”
It was hard to even imagine that mountain-sized device linking all the realms together for over forty-five hundred years could ever stop, but if it did, it would ruin everything.
Realms like mine would starve to death in a month.
The others might survive, but they’d lose access to every other form of magic except for the one element native to their own.
“Elves call this time Yavus Olum. This means Slow Death.” Krachma speaking up at all was rare. Him knowing anything in Elvish was an even bigger surprise. “Krachma prefers regular death.”
“That missing ingredient is why even really powerful wizards like the Council can’t do what the ancients did. They can’t build floating cities anymore. It’s why things are breaking down. That’s why the Slump started slumping,” I said.
“Indeed, this all sounds very terrible, and this hypothetical death is so slow that I’m sure my great-great grandchildren will surely regret when it all grinds to a halt… What’s any of this got to do with us today?” Rade asked impatiently.
“Korthican made his home on that isle, but it had already been settled by the ancient civilization that predates the Core. They’d built a lighthouse there, but it hadn’t been used for a long time.
Until Korthican enchanted a light so bright it could be seen by ships many miles away to stick on top of the old tower.
It was supposed to be symbolic of hope or the greatness of the Core or something.
All I know for sure is that other wizards who lived by the bay complained to the Council about the brightness keeping them up at night.
I think that light is the lamp Carcalla thinks is still hidden in the secret room beneath where the lighthouse used to stand. ”
“And?”
“It’s said that Korthican enchanted that lamp to never go out.”
Rade didn’t get it immediately, but Azarin did. “Naanwalla’s tits! That thing’s got Permanence in it?”
“Most likely. After the sealing of the time gate, the Council sent the watch to round up all the items enchanted with chronomancy, but the lamp was never found. They assumed it was lost in the battle when the lighthouse got blasted to pieces. But if it got hidden beneath the ruins all along, that would explain why the island’s infested now.
Powerful artifacts are supposed to attract monsters. ”
“That’s true. Like a moth to flame.” Rade used an expression I’d never really understood until I’d moved here, as back home, we had flames everywhere, but it was too hot for bugs. Here, I’d watched the dumb little things fly right into a torch and pop themselves into dusty sparks.
“Anything with time magic in it’s got to be worth a fortune, but adventurers have looked before and found nothing,” Azarin said. “And then somehow Carcalla gets a tip about a secret door and even got the password for it.”
“It can’t be that reliable of a tip, or surely he would’ve sent some professionals when he first heard about it, rather than putting it off however long and then sending the likes of us.
I’m guessing it’s just a small possibility it’s still there, but even a hint that there might be some Permanence is enough to get people curious. ”
“So it’s likely been gone for centuries, but this great and splendorous artifact might be there, so really nothing’s changed for us, except adding a small chance that we might make an obscene profit.” Azarin grinned. “And here you were getting me all worried for nothing!”
“Only we’ve all been running our mouths in public about what we’re doing and where we’re going for the last few days, and there are many who’d slit our throats for a shot at a bit of Permanence.
We’ve said who we’re working for. Surely someone else knows the old legends about the island, and they’ll reason out that’s why Carcalla’s interested in the place.
I nearly got killed by Tempus Metum cultists just a few months ago, and they’re obsessed with anything connected to the time realm. ”
“You think they’d want to protect the lamp or steal it?”
“They were hideous underground mutants trying to murder me, Azarin. I didn’t pause to quiz them on their club’s purpose in life.”
“Oh, you’re just being paranoid now, Oz. We’ve not talked that much.” Azarin laughed, but then she noticed Rade place his face into his palms. “What?”
“I… may have complicated that.”
“Braden Prescott. What did you do?”
We all knew it was bad when Rade didn’t react poorly to her using his actual given name, as opposed to the fake noble one he’d assigned himself.
“I felt some guilt for saying cruel things to Rufus, so I took him out for a drink. We went to a pub last night, where we may have boasted at great length about our pending adventure.”
“That’s not so bad.” Azarin waved one hand dismissively.
“To the whole place… loudly…”
“Why would you do that?” I asked, bewildered.
“To extol our bravery, while a great many people bought us drinks. It turns out that once inebriated, Rufus has a lovely singing voice. He’d have made a fine bard.”
“Rufus is an eagle-brained idiot,” Azarin said. “You didn’t mention anything to anyone about there being a secret hidden chamber no other adventurers have ever known about before, did you?”
“Me? No. Of course not. Rufus, however… That may have been one of the verses in his song. And unfortunately, this particular pub is in the Slump, is rather popular, and caters to clients from mercenary and adventuring companies.”
“Trax.”
“Yes, Carnavon?”
“Let the record show that if we get robbed, it’s Rade’s fault.”
“I will be sure that goes on the sphere.”
“Apologies, my friends. I thought we’d only drawn the attention of one wrathful criminal entity, not several…
My inadvertent storytelling in pursuit of free drinks and the attention of attractive young ladies aside, it is possible that if someone were to take word of our expedition as a sign that there’s still treasure on the island, that they might leave quickly in order to reach it before we do. ”
I’d not even thought of that. I’d been thinking more like a trapper than an adventurer, because if I was evil and wanted to steal some time magical item, I’d let other fools bleed to get it for me, and then jump them on the way out.
“You let Rufus play song bird last night. If other adventurers left as soon as they heard, they could already be there. Carcalla gave us until Waterday to hit the island, but if he finds out there was time magic there all along, and we were sitting here with our thumbs stuck up our asses while it got hauled off by someone else first, we’re getting evicted for sure…
and by evicted, I mean evicted from life. We’ve got to go now.”
“I shall rally the troops!” Rade ran toward the door, then thought better of it and returned to bang his fist on the table again. “Meeting is adjourned.”
Krachma sullenly finished his bowl of oatmeal and stood up. “Krachma will fetch his mace.”
As everyone left to gather their things, I had an idea. “Hey, Trax. We’ve got to walk to the bay and then find a boat to take us across. Could you swim down the canal fast and keep an eye on the island until we get there? Then you can let us know if anyone else showed up first.”
“That is a splendid idea. If there are other adventurers present, would you like me to eat them?”
“Hold off on the eating people until I arrive, alright? And be careful. Don’t get too close. I don’t want you to get hurt. The island’s got those unidentified monsters living around it.”
“Can I eat the dangerous monsters?”
“Use your best judgment on that.”
And it wasn’t until after Trax was gone that I realized how incredibly dangerous it might be to tell a hungry Squalo to use his best judgment on whether he should devour something or not.