Why were you with my son? asked Miranda.
Tad launched into the story of the festival and how they woke up in the wagon, and while it was a disjointed and somewhat rambling version, they got the story in one telling. At the end, Magnus said, You mean to say that youre not Calebs apprentices?
Tad and Zane exchanged guilty looks, and then Zane said, No. But we never said we were.
McGrudder said you were.
Tad shrugged. Caleb was taking us to Yar-Rin and then down into Kesh to find us crafts that we could apprentice. If he couldnt place us together, there, he was going to take us up to Krondor. He was doing it for our mother.
Pug stepped forward and said, You already know more than you should, just through what youve seen and heard in the last day. He glanced at his wife and son then added, I think well give some thought about what to do with you. But in the meantime, why dont you get some rest. He glanced at Nakor. Well talk in a while, but would you please find them a room, now?
Nakor nodded and moved quickly to the door, motioning for the boys to follow. Tad and Zane fell in behind.
Im Nakor, said their guide. Im a gambler. Do either of you know how to play card games? Both boys said no, and Nakor shook his head. Im getting out of practice. No one on this island plays cards. What do you do? He glanced over his shoulder as he asked the last question.
Both boys were silent as each waited for the other to speak first. Finally Tad said, Things.
What things? asked Nakor as they reached a hallway lined with doors.
Loading and unloading cargo, said Zane.
So youre young stevedores?
Not really, said Zane. And we can drive wagons!
Teamsters, then?
No, not really. But I can sail a boat, said Tad. And weve both done some fishing.
I can hunt a little, said Zane. Caleb took me once and showed me how to shoot a bow. He said I had the makings, and I took down a deer by myself! His pride shone clearly as he walked next to his foster brother.
I help Fowler Kensey mend nets sometimes, offered Tad. and he showed me how to catch ducks on the lake.
And Ive helped Ingvar the Smith mend pots, added Zane. He doesnt like to tinker so he showed me. And I know how to bank a forge so the fires there the next morning, and how to temper steel Tad shot him a dubious look Ive watched him do it often enough!
Nakor led them into the room, which was empty save for four beds with rolled-up mattresses. Well, he said, thats quite an impressive list of skills, far more than most boys your age have. He waved to them to unroll the mattresses. As they did so, he pointed to a chest near the door and said, Blankets are in there. A candle and flint and steel, too, though youll not need it. I expect youll be asleep as soon as I close the door. Its three hours to sunrise here, so rest for a while. Someone will come and get you and take you to get something to eat when you wake. I expect youll be hungry.
Im hungry now, said Zane with a slight note of complaint.
Tad shook his head slightly.
But I can wait to eat, he quickly amended as he went to fetch blankets out of the wicker chest.
As Nakor turned to leave, Tad said, Sir, a question.
Call me Nakor, not sir. Whats the question?
Where are we?
Nakor was silent a moment, then grinned. I cant tell you yet. You will know what you may after Pug decides what to do with you.
What do you mean, sir Nakor? asked Tad.
Nakor lost his smile. You boys have seen things and heard things that could get someone else killed. Tads face drained of colour and Zanes eyes widened. Pug has to decide what we can do with you. Magnus thought you were Calebs apprentices, which meant certain things. You are not, which means certain other things. I cant be more specific, but soon you will know what Pug wishes. Until then, you are guests, but dont wander off without a guide. Understood?
Both said, Yes, and Nakor departed.
They went to bed and as they lay down, Tad said, Killed?
He said someone else, not us.
But why?
I dont know, said Zane. Calebs father is powerful, hes a magician like his other son. Both boys had the usual fear of things magic widespread among the common folk of the region, but it was tempered by the fact they were talking about Calebs father. In the boys minds Caleb was like a generous and kind uncle, which would almost make Pug something akin to a grandfather. At least they hoped so.
Zane continued. Everyone says that he owns Stardock Island. That would make him a noble of some kind. They have enemies. Nobles fight wars and things.
Tad laid his head down on his arm. Im tired, but I dont feel sleepy.
Well, you heard him; we cant go anywhere. Maybe we should try.
Tad rolled over on his back and stared upwards in the darkness. I wish we were back at Stardock.
Zane sighed deeply. Me, too.
CHAPTER FIVE
Sorcerers Isle
ALL EYES WERE ON NAKOR.
He pulled an orange from his seemingly-bottomless rucksack and offered it first to Miranda, then to Pug, and then to Magnus. All declined. He stuck his thumb into the peel and began to remove it, a process all of them had witnessed a thousand times before.
Nakor, said Pug, what are you not telling us?
Nothing, said Nakor. At least nothing I knew until Magnus arrived.
What do you mean? asked Miranda, sitting on the side of the bed where Caleb lay sleeping.
Pug stood at his younger sons feet and Magnus occupied the other chair in the room.
You know who the old witch in the village was, yes? asked Nakor.
Not really, said Magnus. Ive encountered her twice before and all I sense is that shes more than a common purveyor of charms and herbal remedies. Theres power there, but its muted.
You said the Goddess called her an echo, said Miranda. To Nakor she said, What does that mean?
Nakor glanced at Pug who said, I think I understand, or at least, I have a partial understanding. Tell us what you know.
Nakor shrugged and his usual happy demeanour vanished. Instead, Pug saw the darkest expression Nakor had ever revealed to him. The Gods are beings of vast power, Nakor began. Our understanding of them is filtered through the limits of our perceptions. He looked at the other three. All of you have been to the Pavilion of the Gods, so you know that it is both a physical place and a metaphor for something much less objective. It is a place of the mind as well as a place of the body.
When I have encountered beings of a certain type in the past He stopped and was silent for a moment as if considering his choice of words, then he resumed. I mentioned Zaltais of the Eternal Despair, he said to Pug, who nodded. Do you remember him being cast into a pit I said he was a dream, remember?
Pug nodded. Youve said that each time hes been mentioned, yet you have offered no explanation.
Pug nodded. Youve said that each time hes been mentioned, yet you have offered no explanation.
With a slight smile, Nakor said, I assumed, perhaps in error, that you would have gleaned the truth without my having told you since we discussed this all down in Krondor, before the Serpentwar destroyed that city.
Magnus said, This is all new to me, so why not explain it now?
The Nameless One sleeps, Nakor said.
All three knew of Nalar, the Greater God of Evil, who had been cast out by the other Controller Gods, as the Greater Gods were sometimes called. That is the legend, anyway, continued Nakor. When the Chaos Wars raged, the Nameless One seduced the Valheru and caused them to rise up and challenge the Lesser Gods, just as he had seduced the Lesser Gods to rise up and challenge the Controllers.
Magnus said, Ive studied the lore as much as any outside the priesthood, Nakor. But nowhere have I read about the Nameless One bidding the Lesser Gods to attack the Greater Gods. He was a Greater God. Why would he invite such an attack upon himself as well as the other Greater Gods?
To skew the balance, answered Pug. To change the dynamics between the seven Controller Gods. He looked at Nakor, who nodded, and Pug said, Before the Chaos Wars, when the old order died and the new order arose, there were seven Controllers. He started to count on his fingers, as if emphasizing each in turn. The Nameless One, who is the Darkness; Arch-Indar, the Light; Ev-den, the Worker from Within; Abrem-Sev, the Builder; Graff, the Weaver of Desire; Helbinor, the Abstainer, and at the centre, The Balance.
Ishap, supplied Magnus.
Pug nodded, and Nakor resumed. He finished his orange and put the peel into his bag, licked his fingers, and held them up as he counted on them. After the Chaos Wars, the balance changed. He held up one hand, displaying four fingers and a folded thumb. Left behind were the Nameless One and the four dynamic gods: Abrem-sev, Ev-den, Graff, and Helbinor.
He then unfolded his thumb. Ishap, in the middle, is the balancer. He is, in a way, the most powerful, for he will add to any side that is disadvantaged, and he will oppose any side that seeks to gain supremacy, always striving to restore the balance.
All of them are vital to the very existence of our world. One is action, one is reaction, one is higher purpose and mind, and the other is all things unseen and unknowable, but vital to our very being. And the last maintains the balance.
He put his hands together, his fingertips and thumb forming a circle. They are a unity. They form the very fabric of our reality. But they are but expressions of forces. Those forces are vital, dynamic, and they are the expression of even more basic beings.
The Selfless One, She Who is Light, and the Nameless One, He Who is Darkness, are the sources of those two basic powers. The Good Goddess died in the Chaos Wars, and the other five Controllers were forced to imprison the Dark One in another realm, under a mountain so vast that this entire world could rest upon a ledge on its peak.
There he slumbers. Nakor looked around. Zaltais was one of his dreams.
Pug said, I thought I understood, but I didnt.
If one lies in a prison, might one not dream of a surrogate, a ruler who sits on a throne in a distant place and who can command armies to free the prisoner?
Miranda said, Zaltais was trying to raise an army to storm a prison on another plane of reality?
No, its just a metaphor, said Pug.
Everything is a metaphor, said Nakor. The witch is but an echo of the Good Goddess.
Magnus said, Wait. The old woman I encountered in the Pavilion may have been such, but the village witch is a real person.
Undoubtedly, agreed Nakor. The gods will often place a tiny fragment of themselves within a mortal. It is how they learn to manifest their roles in this world, to understand fully their obligation to their worshippers. When the mortal dies, the spark returns to the god.
The relationship between gods and humanity is complex. The gods are also manifestations of how humanity sees them. Ban-ath here in Midkemia and Kalkin in Novindus are essentially the same, yet they manifest differently, with slightly different charges and natures.
So the old witch has a divine spark within her? asked Magnus.
Just so, said Nakor. Arch-Indar is dead as we understand such things, but her power was so vast, so profound and fundamental, that even ages after her death the echoes of her being still influence us.
Is that why you started that religion down in Krondor? asked Miranda.
I didnt start it, answered Nakor. I only resurrected it. When the avatar appeared, I knew that eventually goodness will return. When that young girl, Aleta, started manifesting all those abilities, I knew that it was the right choice.
When it does, the other Controllers will release the Nameless One from his prison and return the order of our world to its proper place. Without Arch-Indar to offset his evil, the Nameless One must stay imprisoned.
Remember that Ishap is also dead, but his followers have retained considerable power, some from the other Controllers, but some simply from the memory of the Balancer. Hell return before the Good Goddess because his temple has been restored for a longer time, and the one I reinstituted is still very young. But, when Ishaps back, and Arch-Indar eventually returns, then the other Controllers can release the Nameless One from his prison, and return the order of our world to its proper place. Without her to offset his evil, the Nameless One must stay imprisoned.
And having worshippers will cause that? asked Magnus.
Eventually, said Nakor with a shrug. How long is anyones guess.
Centuries, said Miranda.
If were lucky, said Nakor. It could be longer. Certainly its unlikely that any of us will live long enough to see it and were all going to live a lot longer than most! he added with a grin.
Magnus sighed loudly. You speak of centuries into the future, longer perhaps; what has this to do with our current situation?
Nakor put both palms out and gave a dramatic shrug. I have no idea. He looked at Pug. Do you?
Pug nodded. A little. One of our problems is that the Nameless One still impacts on our world, even if it is over a vast distance and only indirectly. The Good Goddess may have left her echoes and memories, but she has no direct impact on this world, even on the level that her opponent does. So, in a way, we are her agents, attempting to counteract those who are being influenced by the Nameless One.
I doubt that our old nemesis, Leso Varen, has even the most remote idea when he became a thing of evil. Perhaps it was something that he chose striking a deal for power in exchange for service.
He may not even realise who he serves, suggested Nakor. Remember that situation with the Tear of the Gods?
Pugs expression darkened. I had a long and heated discussion with Arutha about not letting me know about that until after the matter was decided.
Nakor nodded. He knew the story, but hadnt been directly involved. And he also knew it was a painful subject because William, Pugs eldest child, and Jezhara, one of his better students, had been at the centre of the confrontation.
They, along with the man who would later become Duke James of Krondor, had managed to thwart Varen and his agents in their attempt to steal the Tear of the Gods the artefact that allowed the temples to communicate with their deity.