Your hands are glowing, said Jenny. Whatever you thought of my group, one thing you couldnt deny was their total dedication to stating the obvious.
Yes, I said, because I was in the group, too. I raised my hands in front of and turned them over, like there might be an off switch on the back, or maybe instructions.
Is it safe? asked Jenny, reaching out her own hand, which wasnt a smart thing to do if it turned out not to be safe.
Of course theyre safe. I pulled my hands away and hid them behind my back, making my proclamation seem sowhat disingenuous. I didnt think there was any danger from my glowing handsother than to myselfbut I still didnt want Jenny too close. They could spit out fire or give her cancer for all I knew.
Cant you use the gem to turn them off? she said, trying to reach behind . Her tone was very neutral, not nagging or pestering, but I could see she was holding back her concern. Left unchecked, the energy I was using up would eventually kill . At least, that was what the Elder had told .
The dwarfstone had absorbed the light from my hands last ti. I didnt know what that ant, whether I could use that captured energy sohow, but at least it provided a safety valve.
In a minute, I said. I just want to figure out what turned them on in the first place. I looked around. There was a large mushroom cloud blooming behind us, my hands had gone radioactive, and we were flying east on a dragon, so pretty much an average day. There were also faint lines I could only just make out connecting things.
The sun was ahead of us, hardly dropping as we chased it across the sky. There wasnt much to see up here, but between us and the dragons flying in formation behind us, I could just about make out the tendrils that bound everything together. If I looked down, it was as if soone had painted cobwebs over the ground.
Maurice stood up and bent down to take a closer look at my hands. If what the Elder said was true, you must have created a decent size gap between what you love and what you hate.
I dont feel any different about anything, I said. Im exactly the sa as I was before this. I held out my hands again. They were covered in a yellow light.
That cant be true, said Maurice.
He had a pointif it required a change in intensity of my feelings to produce magic, and my hands were lit up like novelty light bulbs, then clearly my feelings had changed. But as the person who owned those feelings, I was in a unique position to confirm or deny. And I denied.
The Elder had told how magic worked, but he could be wrong. Or lying. Or it could work differently for different people. What I needed was proof. A ntor who could show how to get a starship out of a swamp.
Ah think he secretly likes us more than he lets on, said Flossie. She had left the piloting to Vikchutni, which I always found disconcerting.
Not necessarily, said Maurice. He held up both hands, a finger pointing up on each. If you think of liking as positive and hating as negative, then the distance between them is what allows him to make magic. He moved his fingers apart to demonstrate. He doesnt need to increase the positive as long as he increases the negative. He kept one finger stationary and moved the other one further away.
Flossie frowned as she considered this information. After a couple of seconds of intense deliberation, she smiled again. No, he likes us. Ah know it.
I didnt agree with either of them. My strongest emotion was ambivalence, which was why the whole magic being bound to feelings seed suspect to . The things I liked and the things I disliked werent all that different to . The good guys and the bad guys werent two sides of the sa coin, they were the sa side of the sa coin. Just on different days.
It would have been a waste of energy trying to explain that to Flossie, so I didnt. Let her think what she wanted.
My hands flickered and went out.
How did you do that? said Jenny. She grabbed my hands with hers before I had a chance to snatch them out of her reach.
I dont know, I said, enjoying her touch as she explored my hands for injury. At least, I think thats what she was doing.
What were you thinking when they stopped glowing? asked Maurice.
I was thinking how it wasnt worth trying to explain anything to you bunch of gormless idiots. What? He asked.
So, it was a sort of giving up? said Maurice.
I guess.
Maurice sat down and opened his notebook. Okay, so next ti it happens, focus on how useless and pathetic you think we all are. See if it has the sa effect.
No problem, I said.
And what were you thinking about when they started to glow? asked Jenny.
I hesitated, not really wanting to tell her.
Oh, co on, said Claire, her face twisted into a snarl. Spit it out. Its not like you care about hurting our feelings at this point.
My hands suddenly began glowing again. I tried to take them back from Jenny, but she held on tight.
Claires expression relaxed, like shed flicked a switch. I think its when hes irritated.
It had got to the point where even my own plebs were able to manipulate . It was embarrassing. I let out a sigh. My hands stopped glowing.
It really works! said Maurice, scribbling stuff into his book.
I couldnt refute what Claire had said, only I hadnt been irritated the previous ti my hands had started glowing. Quite the opposite, in fact. Which lent so credence to Maurices theory that it only required an increase in either the positive or negative to create a large enough gap.
It was a step forward in understanding the chanics, but it still didnt make the ability worth anything. Slightly glowing hands and a vague sense of the connections between things were not powers that would change the world. Whatever my feelings were, they were too weak to be of any practical use.
Um, said Dudley, I think I see sothing.
Everyone stood up and looked in the direction Dudley was staring. I couldnt see anything at first, but slowly a spot appeared on the horizon. It took quite a while for it to grow into sothing recognisable. A city. Gorgoth.
In the anti, the land beneath us underwent a transformation. The fields and forests grew sparser. The ground turned brown, then yellow. The trees were smaller and less green.
It wasnt exactly a desert, not like the Sahara with sand dunes and the occasional palm tree, but it was getting there.
We also spotted animals and people. Long caravans making their way east. It was hard to tell what kind of animals they were from up here. Maybe cals, maybe elephants. Maybe sothing else entirely.
We didnt go down to take a closer look as dragons descending out of the sky might have spooked them. And it wasnt really much of a mystery where they were going. Roads were visible from our vantage point, and they were quickly filling with more and more caravans, all headed for the city.
Gorgoth, once it got big enough to make out, was larger than the others we had encountered so far, or at least wider. It seed to get wider the closer we got. The buildings werent very tall; no towers and no spires. There were a lot of dos, which gave it an Arabian vibe. Many were covered in shiny tal, the biggest bunched together like a clutch of golden eggs.
We could have flown in, landed in the central plaza and made a grand entrance, but that would have attracted far more attention than was wise. We didnt know much about this place and it was best to assu it wasnt going to throw us a party for turning up.
Stashing the dragons sowhere was our imdiate problem. There wasnt much vegetation or cover. The land was very flat and without any forests or even many bushes, it would be hard to play hide the dragon (not a euphemism).
Flossie spotted a crack in the earth, south of the city, which was looming quite large by now. She flew us in and there was a stream running through the floor of the canyon. Which could an other people would co here for the water, but there didnt seem any obvious way to get down here, certainly not with large animals (that couldnt fly), so we decided it would do. The dragons could always fly away if danger approached.
Flossie spent ten minutes with her head against Vikchutnis, muttering sothing. I couldnt tell you if it was part of the bonding process or her being a bit too clingy, but the dragon didnt seem to mind.
We left the dragons to take care of themselves, which they were more than capable of. Whether theyd still be there when we returned, wed have to wait to find out. Assuming we did return.
It didnt take long to get to the city. Its yellow sandstone walls reached high overhead, maybe twice the height of the walls of Fengarad. The roads were full of large, slow-moving traffic. The noise was overwhelming, making it hard to speak; the air was full of dust, making it hard to see; large piles of dung appeared at regular intervals, making it hard not to throw up.
The pack animals wed seen from the sky were even bigger close up. I realise thats how vision works, but they were much bigger than horses; and it was still impossible to tell what they were.
They were loaded with goods and there were plenty of people sitting on them or running around trying to keep their animals in check or putting back things that fell off. The goods varied from panniers of grain hanging off the sides, to giant baskets of fruits ready to topple off at any mont. Each train was a dozen or more animals roped together and travelling head to tail. The people were wrapped up in sheets like Bedouins, their faces also covered with only their eyes showing.
Ah think thats a cal, said Flossie, pointing at what did look vaguely like a cal, but bigger and with tusks. Most of its face was hidden by a long, beaded veil that nearly reached the ground and swung from side to side with each ponderous step. It could just as easily have been a hairy elephant.
Now would have been the perfect ti to strike up a conversation, pick up so useful information on the city. None of us felt so inclined. Everyone was so busy with what they were doing, it felt like a huge imposition to distract them.
The city gates ford a bit of a bottleneck, and the caravans were backed up quite a way. There didnt seem to be any restrictions to getting in, just the problem of getting everyone in through the sa entrance.
We walked past the plodding behemoths towards the gates. There were no guards that I could see. Just walk in and go about your business. There was, however, a danger you might get trampled by so kind of pachyderm or crushed under a falling crate.
As we stood to one side trying to get a sense of when would be the best ti to enter, two n approached us. They were dressed identically in grey robes and carried wooden bowls. Beggars, was my first thought, although they looked clean and well grood. Both had long beards and shaved heads.
Brothers, sisters, said the first one. Am I correct in thinking you are new to Gorgoth?
Yes, said Claire, boldly jumping in. Is there a safer way to enter?
Indeed. There is a smaller entrance on either side. The harvest has co in and the main entrance is currently used by tradesn and farrs.
Now that he ntioned it, there was an archway further along the wall. We couldnt see into it from this angle and it looked like it might have been decorative, but it did seem to lead into the wall. We probably would have noticed it ourselves if anyone had been using it.
Thank you, said Claire.
Wait, before you go, said the second man, perhaps we can interest you in an even greater city. The city of heavenly beauty, where nature is lush and beautiful, and the gods grant your every whim.
The first man nodded enthusiastically, indicating he thought this was an excellent idea.
No, I said, you cant. I started walking towards the archway, but quickly realised I was alone. I stopped and turned around.
Are you a priest? Maurice asked the first man. The others had gathered around him to be supportive of his daring attempt to speak to another person.
No, no. I am a druid.
As am I. We believe in the beauty of nature. Of balance and love and trees.
I could see the upside of talking to these Hare Krishna hippie dipsticksthey would be able to give us so information on the citybut I felt like there would be other chances to do that. Hopefully with people who werent so full of shit.
But Maurice had seen an opportunity and gone for it.
And what else do you believe in? asked Maurice, leaving the door wide open. If I didnt do sothing, theyd all be inducted into a tree-hugging cult and be forced to eat lentils for the rest of their lives. On the plus side, it would an more free ti for .
I am Brother Dereel, this is Brother Deneel. We are followers of the One True Faith. Allow to
Wait, hold on, I said, walking back. One True Faith? Do you follow the One True God?
They both looked shocked and horrified by the suggestion.
No, certainly not, said Brother Dereel. He was a heretic who was cast out. We only believe in nonviolence and kindness to all the creatures of the gods.
For all I knew, he was Joshaya in disguise. One True God, One True Faith it seed too much of a coincidence to have just bumped into these guys. Perhaps these two were worth talking to, after all.
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