Chapter 18 - Skarlett Black
"Where exactly are we going again?" Tasha asked Havar, the Lord Chancellor as they rode in the Royal Carriage through the city streets of Southmoor.
Through the windows Tasha could see the citizens peering at the vehicle as it trundled past. Many people, children especially, waved as they passed. Tasha thought that to be pretty strange. With the windows open, it was easy to tell that she wasn't a member of the Royal Family. And yet they waved. Tasha shrugged and shoved the thought to the side.
Havar smiled patiently at her, as if she were some sort of child that needed coddling. Tasha managed to keep from grinding her teeth too noticeably. "We're going to the Temple, milady," he said in a voice that was just a step shy of condescending. "I am familiar with several of the clerics there, one in particular who has made it a point to investigate the matters of ancient magus and their studies."
"What's his name?" Garn asked from the depths of his dark cowl. He had reverted back to his usual garb and abrupt mannerisms. He seemed even more caustic than was normal for him. Something in the way his eyes glinted at the mere mention of Braxin Balinvain's name suggested to Tasha that he was more than slightly miffed at himself for the way he'd handled the situation two nights previously.
The Lord Chancellor acknowledged the mage congenially. "All in good time, young mage. No need to rush the introductions." He smiled then. "However, I will suggest that once you meet the individual that I have in mind, you won't have a difficult time remembering who he is."
Garn snorted. "Big deal. I never forget a face anyway."
"Garn... " Tasha began warningly before Havar motioned for her to let him handle the situation.
"Is there something disturbing you, young mage?"
He scowled darkly at the Lord Chancellor. "I’ve been right on the verge of confirming the location of this odd mountain from Tasha’s, very close to locking it down. Two days of solid searching. Now I’m suddenly being told that there's a guy that could have just rattled off the location to me has kind of got me a little perturbed."
Havar nodded patiently, going all fatherly again. "I see. And I do apologize for all the potentially unnecessary work that you've put in. However, if my associate had been in the city two days ago, you would have known two days ago. As it is, he only returned from his trip early this morning. I hope that this is..."
"Can it, Havar. I don't want to hear it right now." Garn massaged at his temples, wincing the whole time. "I've got a thunderous headache from all translating work I've done in the last two days. The last thing I need right now is for some Royal flunky like you telling me what to do."
Tasha flushed in embarrassment. She laid a hand reassuringly on the Lord Chancellor's arm. "I'm so sorry for that," she gushed. "I don't know what's come over him today. But I promise you... "
Havar smiled amicably though the look in his eyes was pure steel. "Not to worry dear. I understand how someone of my... position might be looked down upon by a countryside mage."
Garn glanced up at the elder man. He smirked confidently. "I'm not trying to be disrespectful, Havar. Just don't push me today. That's all I'm saying."
"Garn!"
"Give it a rest Tasha, I've got a splitting headache."
"Fine. Then we'll talk later."
The mage slid a bit deeper into his cloak. "Not if I can help it," he muttered.
They rode the rest of the journey in peaceful, uneventful silence. Tasha for one was grateful. The events of the last two days, while more restful than any she'd had in over a month were hardly stress free. Roughly a dozen individual meetings with everyone from a distraught Lord Timoth –who was understandably taking the abduction of his son Krehgal rather hard - and countless more with Sir Terius, and even some with Havar himself had left Tasha more than a little overwhelmed. Needless to say, the idea of a few however brief moments of quiet were very appealing to her.
Outside of the carriage rode Sir Raviron upon his charger. He wasn't encased in his metallic suit but he seemed even more imposing without it. He was a rather large young man. Hovering nicely at the six feet mark with shoulder length dark hair. His calm blue eyes were very deceiving, seeming to gloss over everything before him while also cataloguing it all. The broadsword sat ready on his hip and there was a small shield resting on the back of his saddle in case of emergency.
On the other side of the carriage rode Tasha's brother Nicodemus. Thankfully his squire Petran was nowhere in sight today. He dressed much the same as his brother knight, also with the broadsword and shield readily available. Tasha thought the necessity of weapons rather... well, unnecessary. But Sir Terius had decreed that with the events of the last several days, it was better to be safe than sorry. No one could predict what was to happen next with all of the goings on.
A little while later the carriage pulled up in front on the Great Temple of Southmoor. It was an immense, domed building of ancient design and structure. Constructed out of ebony and marble, the Temple stretched high overhead and encompassed an entire city block. The carved steps leading up to the main entrance were carpeted in red and numbered in the dozens. At the absolute top of the steps stood a robed and hooded individual, dressed completely in white.
Nicodemus opened the door to the carriage and assisted Tasha and Havar in their descent. He held out his hand to the mage but cautiously took it back after catching the look on his face. "Sorry about that, Garn," he said cautiously. "Just trying to be polite."
"You and your sister are very much alike," Garn muttered sarcastically. "Both of you have this hang up on 'politeness'. Why, I'll never know." Wordlessly, he folded his arms, tucking his hands into the opposing sleeves and stood impatiently at the base of the stairs.
Tasha sidled up next to her brother and whispered an apology. "I can't do anything to make him be civil today," she said in a way of elaboration.
Nicodemus grinned wryly. "No big deal. I'm kind of relieved actually."
"How so?"
"Well, with all of the things that have been happening of late, it's nice to see that some things and people are never going to change."
Tasha laughed and hugged her older brother. "I suppose so."
Havar began the ascension of the staircase with Sir Raviron right beside him. Garnthalisbain followed along impatiently while the two siblings straggled along behind them. At the top of the stairs, Havar whispered something to the white robed man. The man nodded and immediately trotted off into the Temple. Garn nodded towards the man questioningly. Havar acknowledged the unasked with a response. "He's just an acolyte, good mage."
Garn made a rude noise. "I knew that," he explained. "I was just curious as to which of the Gods he followed."
The Lord Chancellor got a slightly confused expression on his face. He laughed in personal amusement. "Why, all of them, of course." He laughed again. "Why do you ask?"
Knowing her friend as well as she did, Tasha recognized the look of embarrassed anger settling on the young mage's face. Consequently she burst into the conversation before Garn could drive his foot even farther down his throat. "As you well know, Garn," she began as inoffensively as she possibly could. "There is more than just one God out there controlling the universe." The mage nodded abruptly. "And all of them had an equal part in the Creation. So it would be rude to worship one over the other, right?"
"But there are different factions, aren't there?" Garn asked. "I've heard and read of the sects that worship specific Gods over others."
"They're known as the Priests, Garn." Nicodemus explained. "When a person decided that there is one God that they want to worship over all the others, they give up all of their worldly possessions and desires and devote themselves in mind and body to that God."
Garn was silent for a moment as he went over the new information. "So, that... 'acolyte' you called him. Yeah? Okay, that acolyte simply hasn't yet decided which of the Gods he loves the most?"
Havar nodded. "Exactly. And I must apologize for laughing, youn
g mage. I just found it hard to believe that you were... unfamiliar with the workings of the church."
Garn shrugged. "I never really cared." Havar gasped in surprise and shock. He shrugged again. "Why should I? They may have created this universe but I have to live in it and control my own destiny while I'm here don't I? And besides, I've got my Power and that's what really important to me anyway."
"How can you even think that for a second Garn?" Tasha interrupted. "The only reason that you're hear in Southmoor is because of the vision, one likely provided by the Gods Above."
The mage shook his head. "That's the reason you're here Tasha. I'm here to keep you out of trouble."
"And you've done an absolutely stellar job of that so far," Nicodemus muttered catching a narrow gaze from Garn.
The acolyte returned just then and motioned for group to follow him. He then turned about and began to purposefully stride throughout the carpeted marble hallways. "This guy doesn't talk much," Raviron mentioned.
"Vow of silence," Havar explained.
Nicodemus shook his head. "I never understood why someone would voluntarily take one of those."
Havar smiled. "Actually, it was forced upon him."
"Oh?"
The Chancellor nodded.
Nicodemus shrugged. “Guess it beats cleaning the latrines.”
“Quite.”
The path they followed was circular and followed the perimeter of the Temple along its outer wall. On the left was a large set of oaken double doors, they were open. As they passed by, Tasha caught a glimpse of the chapel proper. Plants lined the walls and hung from the ceiling in places giving the whole room and hallway immediately outside a pleasantly perfumed odor. There was no furniture to speak of but that would hardly be a problem for parishioners seeing as how the floor was just sod and grass. There was a skylight above, allowing the sunlight to feed the greenery. In the back was an alter raised above all else in the room. It too was made wholly of oak and was carved elegantly with images that Tasha was unable to make out from the distance. Behind the alter, on the wall was a huge, wooden semblance of a rose bent upon itself, so that the petals touched the stem. It had been expertly painted to resemble the real thing and did just that. With a lighter feeling in her heart, Tasha followed the others vowing to one day get a chance to attend a service in the chapel of the Earth Goddess.
Another set of double doors revealed absolutely nothing, seeing as they were closed. However on the doors themselves were the symbols of each of the Gods Above arranged in a circular fashion. First and at the top of the circle was the bent back rose in its full color. Second was a gleaming bronze disk with golden-red flames surrounding it. The third was a very generic but obviously also animalistic head encircled a nondescript serpent whose tail touched it's nose. Right beside that was the fourth symbol; it consisted of two small iron tridents crossed at the shaft and surrounded by a clear crystal sphere, obviously meant to represent water. And lastly, the fifth symbol consisted of two individual crescents that touched at their tips. the one on the left was golden while the other a pale green.
They stopped before these doors for a brief moment so that the speechless acolyte could sink to his knees and give his silent but heartfelt prayers up to all five deities. Once done, they continued on their way.
At long last, there appeared a doorway on the right side of the hallway. The acolyte proceeded to lead the group down a dizzying series of twisting paths and side passageways that, although all different, managed still to blend in with everything else and end up as a blur in Tasha's mind.
Nicodemus leaned down and whispered in her ear at that point. "Do you have any idea where we are?"
"Hey, this is your city. I'm just the visitor here, remember?" Her brother chuckled and they went on.
Finally they stopped. In front of them was a very large door. There was a symbol of the beast's head and the serpent upon the door, telling all the distinction of the priest inside. the acolyte nodded his shaved head once walked away down the hall without looking back.
Sir Raviron nudged his brother knight in the ribs. "He didn't even say goodbye." Both knights snickered slightly at that rather lame pun as Tasha rolled her eyes in disgust.
Garn studied the symbol on the door. "A Priest of the God of Beasts?"
Havar nodded once and knocked on the door.
"Come in," beckoned an incredibly deep voice. Havar smiled, opening the door.
The room was large and high-ceilinged. There was very little in the way of furniture save for a couple of ornate chairs and an immense filing cabinet against the back wall. A tapestry hung from the ceiling and draped across yet another wall. It depicted a tale of some sort in which a half-man, half-beast stood atop a great mountain with thousands of creatures all around it. There was a certain calm about the man-beast. Instead of it being deformed or in some way repugnant, rather it was appealing. Even peaceful.
Havar stepped into the room and greeted it's two occupants. The first one was a slender being just below average height. He was dressed from head to toe in dark green clothes with dark brown leather boots, belt and vest with a brown cloak draped over his shoulders. There was yet more leather wrapped around his forearms from the elbow up to and including the palm of his hand, leaving the thumbs free and available. He carried what appeared to be an exceptionally long pole across his back. Tasha could only assume that it was a weapon of some sort, though it seemed far too fragile to be used as a staff. At his waist hung a long sword with an elegantly designed hilt. He stood, holding in one hand a goblet while at his feet rested a large, black wolf.
The man slowly turned his gaze towards the new group of people. Like the rest of his frame, his face was very slender and smooth. Tasha marveled at how clean shaven the man was, much like a young boy's. But his eyes showed great age and experience. The bright blue contrasted sharply with the almost black of his shoulder length hair. Tasha was almost unsettled by the man, for on one hand he had the form and general appearance of a young man. Yet his eyes spoke of someone far older. Then she caught a glimpse of the elongated point of the man's ear when he flicked back a loose strand of hair and suddenly understood.
Beside her, Tasha distinctly heard Garn whisper an oath of surprise. She turned to him, puzzled and saw his gaze fixed on the room's second occupant. At last, Tasha did the same and found herself lose her breath in astonishment.
At first, Tasha believed the second being to be some sort of demon. For it was certainly not human or elven or anything she was familiar with. It stood at roughly seven feet in height on all four of its legs. Unbelievably, the bottom half of the being's body appeared to be that of a rather overlarge lion; complete with tail and all. The fur was very dark in color, almost black. The top half resembled that of a human, with two arms a head and the rest. It wore a modified robe that remained open at the front and trailed down to the knees of his forelegs. Thus giving Tasha a clear view and allowing her to note the exceptional physical health of the being.
His flesh tone was much the same color as the fur, that almost but not quite black shade. The hair on the top of his head was long and flowed down his back like a mane. His face was very strong featured and square-jawed. Just when Tasha thought that she couldn't be surprised any more, she was proven wrong when the being looked directly at her with his deep red eyes. He didn't have any irises, just red and the pupils.
Needless to say, Tasha found herself rather intimidated.
Havar strode right up to the both of them and shook their hands warmly, having a brief, muffled conversation with them both. Garn leaned over to her at that point and whispered in Tasha's ear. "I owe the Chancellor an apology. I don't think that I'll ever forget meeting this guy."
The Lord Chancellor cleared his throat, regaining the attention of his followers. "Milady Tasha? Garnthalisbain? May I introduce to you at this time to my friends and associates, Tamariel Wolfrunner." He said, motioning to the elf who nodded minutely. "And of course, the pe
rson I wanted you to meet, Skarlett Black, Priest of Arixeas and Cleric."
The big creature chuckled deeply. "Just Skarlett will be fine."
The elf finished off the remainder of his goblet and handed it to his friend. "Thank you for the wine, Skarlett. But I really must be off. We've been away for months and that is far too long for me to be leaving my forest unattended. I must return to it."
Skarlett shook his hand, engulfing it in one of his own. "Of course my friend. I understand. Thank you again for journeying with me, your company was much appreciated as always."
He nodded once again. "Of course." Then he snapped his fingers and whistled sharply. "Up, Midnight. Up." The wolf at his feet soundlessly rose to its feet and patiently waited. The elf shook Havar's hand again. "It's good to see you, we'll have to get together. Soon."
Havar smiled. "Certainly, Tamariel. The next time you're in town, look me up. I'll be in the usual place." The Lord Chancellor winked.
"J.J.'s?" Tamariel asked, a very slight smile spreading across his thin lips. Havar nodded. "I'll be there." He turned to Tasha and the others and nodded one last time. "A pleasure," he said and then walked out of the room with an exceptionally athletic grace. His wolf silently padded along behind him.
Skarlett Black turned to regard the people before him with a smile on his lips. "All right, let's get down to business." He turned about and placed the goblet on top of the filing cabinet and opened the bottom shelf with his right forepaw. He reached down then and fiddled with the files before drawing out the pages he was looking for. Smiling at his guests, he gestured towards the empty chairs. "Please, sit."
Tasha and Havar both accepted the invitation while the knights chose to stand guard at the door. Garn just leaned against one wall and studied the cleric curiously.
"The Book of Korum, correct?" Skarlett’s voice rumbled. Tasha nodded. The man-lion smiled again. "Well you are certainly in luck, young lady. I know exactly where you can find said tome."
Tasha sat bolt upright in her chair, unable to believe her good fortune. "Really? Where is it?"
Skarlett Black chuckled softly then beginning to pace about the large room. "That's where the problem begins," he said.
Garn sighed impatiently. "Let me guess," he began sarcastically. "It resides 'where no man may tread without fear of his or her life', or some other mythological garbage. I've been reading passages like that for two days."
"Essentially, yes" the cleric continued, still smiling faintly. "You see, the Book of Korum resides in a chapel at the very peak of the Dragon's Tooth."
Havar groaned and hid his eyes with one hand while Garn stared incredulously at Skarlett. Tasha however was woefully ignorant but wasn't too terribly afraid of letting everyone know that at this point. "Great," she began cautiously. "Just one question... What's the Dragon's Tooth?"
Skarlett nodded patiently. "That young lady what we in the Pridelands have called our sole mountain for centuries." Seeing that Tasha was still rather lost, he elaborated. "I and the rest of my Wemic brethren have lived and ruled the great expanse of plains to the west of Southmoor for millennia. We have referred to them as the Pridelands."
Tasha nodded her head, cursing inwardly her lack of geographical training outside of her local regions.
"Near the very center of those plains is an immense mountain. There are no foothills or any other such protrusions in the crust, just the mountain. We have called it the Dragon's Tooth ever since the Prides all joined together to crush the cult of the Dragon, which made its residence in a temple at the mountain's summit."
Garn cleared his throat. "I'll tell you about the Dragon Cult another time Tasha. Right now, I want to know what the Book of Korum's doing up there! The last I'd been able to learn was that the archmage Korum had taken it with him out to sea and drowned with it."
The cleric shook a finger at Garn pointedly. "Not quite. While Korum did die out at sea, he made a visit to the Pridelands first. He applied for and received special permission from the Council of Seven to ascend the mountain and leave the book there."
"Why?"
"Korum claimed that he could no longer even trust himself with the knowledge his Book contained. So he hid it in the one place he could think of that few would be able to access. Even so, he placed a warding spell upon it. Whereby, only one that is 'pure of heart' may take hold of the tome and remove it from its warding."
Garn snorted rudely. "Who defines purity of the heart, anyway?"
Skarlett just shrugged. "Verily, it is a mystery."
Tasha paused to think over the whole situation. "So what you're saying," she began, wanting to make sure she had everything all worked out. "Is that we have to do is go to the Pridelands, find this mountain and climb it. Then find a way to remove the Book from its ward?"
The cleric winced slightly. "Not quite."
"What, there's more?" Garn exclaimed incredulously.
Skarlett Black nodded. "First you'll have to get permission from the Council of Seven to even approach the Dragon's Tooth."
"Two questions," Tasha said, chewing on her lower lip. "One: what the hell for? Two: what's the Council of Seven?"
Skarlett chuckled softly, the deep tones reverberating throughout the room. "To answer in reverse order, the Council of Seven consists of the elected leader of each of the Prides. They act as a group coalition and make the decisions that affect the whole of the Wemic population. The reason for this is that we wemics are nomads with no set cities or anything of the like. We travel in our Prides following the herds and raising our young. So whenever there is a matter that concerns us all, the Seven gather at the Trisagonal. That is the only thing we in the Prides have that resembles a city. Trading post would be more accurate in describing it.
"The Trisagonal is within a half days journey from the Dragon's Tooth and that is where all conventional roads or paths end, leaving nothing but the plains. The reason that you need to speak with the Seven is because since we drove the Dragon Cult away from the mountain, it has been considered a place filled with a powerful evil. Consequently, they are very selective about who gets to approach the monolith."
All were silent for a brief moment. "Couldn't we just pass by this Trisagonal altogether and approach the mountain from another side?" Garn asked.
Skarlett shook his head. "Not a chance. There is a constant patrol of the mountain by members of each Pride working in unison. You would never reach the Tooth before being run down."
Tasha rose from her seat. "Well, I guess that we'll just have to convince the Council of Seven that keeping the most powerful wizard of all time from returning to this world is kind of important."
"That won't help," Havar said suddenly, speaking for the first time since the introductions.
"How so?"
Skarlett smiled at the mage. "Because not one of the Seven speaks the common tongue." He turned to his friend then. "I know now why you had me personally tell them of this, Havar. You couldn't find it in you to ask me this favor."
Havar flushed slightly with a slightly guilty look on his face. "How could I my friend? You have just returned from your life quest and have had no chance to rest whatsoever. I just didn't have the heart."
The cleric chuckled again. "I understand and appreciate your concerns, Havar. They will be duly noted."
"Hold it!" Garn burst out with a look of death in his flashing green eyes. He slowly pointed an accusing finger at the Lord Chancellor and glared viciously. "Do you mean to say, that you knew the location of the Book of Korum even before Skarlett returned?" Havar nodded with a faint smile. Garn took a deep breath before half shouting, "Then why the hell didn't you say something to me?"
Havar shrugged. "I knew that you were to need Skarlett's assistance in the Prideland and I knew he was returning soon, so I held off."
Garn spluttered in rage once or twice. "But... still!" he blustered.
"And besides," Havar went on mercilessly. "You looked like you were having so much fun with all of your scowls
and your constant refusals for help."
Garn wordlessly shoved both his arms up the opposing sleeves and fumed, scowling terribly at the Lord Chancellor who took it all with a beatific smile.
Tasha was still treading water and trying to catch up with the conversation. "So... this means you're coming with us?" she asked tentatively.
Skarlett heaved a great sigh and looked wistfully about his room before locking his gaze with hers. "Yes," he began. "Provided that you can give me one night to rest comfortably, eat well and relax."
"Done," Tasha said with a beaming smile. "Does noon tomorrow sound good for a departure time?"
The cleric shrugged his human shoulders comradely. "I suppose. I thought we were in a hurry though."
Tasha nodded. "We are. But as of yet, the rest of our party hasn't had much of a real chance to rest yet either."
Skarlett nodded again. "Very well then. " He extended one massive hand to her. She took it and watched her relatively small digits become completely engulfed. "Once again, a pleasure Lady Tasha."
Tasha, amazed by the gentleness of the wemic's grip finally remembered to respond. "Welcome aboard Skarlett."