Machine, page 15
part #1 of The Peradran Legacy Series
The discharge nearly caused Morbannon to enter the circle, he teetered on one foot not to. Hastily I returned to his side. The static reformed, causing sudden intense agony. He regained his balance and cried out. “Move away, now! I'm losing control. Please!” He writhed in agony, thoughtlessly moving forward. Relentlessly I remained at his side. He made no movement toward me, as if to push me away. He just pressed on as the anguish overwhelmed our senses.
Spasms wracked our bodies as the arcing energy triggered nervous disorder. Cohiri continued to shout her chant. Morbannon rejoined her, rhythmically. His involuntary spasms effected his speech, he slurred, mumbled, barked and shouted, somehow keeping in time with Cohiri.
We reached our origin about the circle. We stopped and moved to face the Suit again. The crystal nimbus whirled in a blur, casting light enough to fill the entire chamber now. The arcs continued to punish our systems, flashing in time with the concerted chants of Cohiri and Morbannon. The incessant agony persisted, the spasms nearly caused me to drop to the floor. Somehow I managed to remain standing.
Dream-like I focused on the Suit. I scanned the immobile form, it appeared different somehow. I perceived it like a marionette that worked without strings. Somewhere inside myself there came a sensation that numbed the incessant pain caused by the high voltage arcs. As my detached inspection of the Suit absorbed more and more of my pain, I began to concentrate on the place inside myself where the Void lingered. There, I found a new link to the exorcised Suit that suddenly expanded to fill my entire nervous system. The sensation reconnected me to the pain I shared with Morbannon. My senses began to blur together, into one single super sense. Deep inside me, the super sense obeyed some kind of subconscious desire of my own design. As my mind tried to decipher the sensation I experienced a moment of enlightenment; my senses remained focused on the presence of the Void in myself and the Suit. Through that link I found myself exerting great concentration upon the dispossessed Suit. I felt like I gained some strange new link with the Suit. As my eyes fell upon one of the hands of the Suit, it was then that I saw the impossible; it moved. The first finger of the left hand moved, barely, but it moved. Again, as my eyes fell upon the other hand, the same thing happened, it moved the first finger. Somehow I was responsible. I reached out with the super sense; 'finger, move...', I thought. 'Finger, move!' I made every effort to suggest my will. 'Hand, move! MOVE! MOVE!'
Then, as the pain came together with the rhythm and the whirling crystals descended before us, it moved. First the finger curled, then the entire hand flattened, palm down. Again I forced my will upon the empty Suit.
Hands, move. Both hands flexed back and forth. Morbannon seemed not to notice, nor Cohiri. They were busy chanting.
Knees, bend. The Suit bent at the knees, slightly, enough for my enlightenment. The pain seemed distant now.
Suddenly they stopped chanting. All at one the crystal vortex froze, directly before Morbannon and in a surge, shot forward and pierced Morbannon's clothing and into his flesh. Blood spurted out wherever the shards touched. He cried out both in Peradran and English. “NO! Please no! No more pain. No more!” Over and over as the cloud converged on his cringing form. Blood ran down his shirt and down his face. Dark stains covered his legs. Each shard passed fully through his skin. Weakly he attempted to push me away, the static arc still between us.
Head, turn. It did.
As the last of the shards passed into Morbannon's body the Arcane presence faded to a local, personal level, reserved for the likes of a Wizard.
Thumb, move. It did.
Remain still...
CHAPTER ELEVEN
MERGING
The pain was gone. Morbannon stood, shaking all over, weak and drained. I braced him by taking hold of his arms from behind. Upon contact he went limp in my grasp. He was unconscious.
Cohiri stood wide eyed, his blood flowed onto the floor.
“Check him out Cohiri, if he survived regaining his soul.” Dazed, she approached and placed her hand on his chest. Shocked by the feel of his blood soaked shirt she drew away her hand and hesitated.
“Do it! If he is dying we've got to do something.” He couldn't die, I needed him too much.
Repulsed by the gore she reluctantly felt for his heartbeat.
“He's alive, weak but alive.” She pulled her hand away and stared at the blood on her hand. Her stare shifted from her hand to the circle and back. Everything seemed red, even the somber glow from the stained glass windows; red. Apparently she sensed my similar perception and snapped out of her daze.
“Lets take him to the lab, there are bandages and healing potions there.” She spoke like she wasn't sure of what she was saying sounded right.
“Help me carry him, take an arm.” She did and together we dragged him from the Summoning Chamber, leaving the Suit without concern. I was fairly confident that my effort of will would insure that it would remain unmoving during our absence.
'Remain still.' Subtly it straightened to full attention.
I no longer felt the shared sensation with the Suit. That place inside me had become distant and empty. Leaving me searching for what the Void left inside me. It was still there, right next to the image of the ever expanding gray and the sense of forlorn I felt following it. Inside too was the Arcane presence, lingering ever so delicately in the company of either Cohiri or Morbannon.
We dragged him dripping blood all the while to the polished door. Fortunately it stood ajar, otherwise we would not have been able to open it. The lab was curiously organized and free of miscellaneous clutter. We laid him on the first bench, now cleared of the various experiments seen during our previous visits. Cohiri found a simple wooden box with a hinged lid and brought it over. Inside the box was the package wrapped in wax paper. She tore the brittle paper revealing bandages and a few flasks and vials. Also inside the box were surgical tools, primitive compared to those of present day Earth. She used the smallest scalpel to cut away the remains of his shirt and pants. ‘Smallest’ meaning less than a foot long and not curved or serrated or too specialized to be useful.
Most of the wounds were actually quite small. It was just that there were so many. It was hard to tell exactly if they were still bleeding or not, there was so much blood.
“We have to wash him off before anything. I can't tell exactly how bad he really is.” She moved to another section of the lab. “Get water, hot if possible.” I didn't know how deep the wounds were or if the shards remained solid inside him. Hot water would be closest to sterile, I didn't want to infect his wounds with the unfiltered water of Peradra.
Cohiri returned with a pile of neatly stacked towels and a pitcher of steaming water and a large bowl made of polished steel. I poured the water into the bowl and soaked a few towels in it.
“Eric, I've never tended to such injuries. Just tell me what to do, ok?” She sounded concerned and not a little nervous.
The blood had stopped flowing and was beginning to coagulate on his skin. I began to wipe off the blood where it had ran onto uninjured skin, working my way toward the wounds. As the towels got too saturated to do a good job Cohiri would take them and replace them with fresh ones. There seemed to be an ample supply.
Before too long I had cleaned all of the blood away. Morbannon's front half was literally covered with rows of punctures, as if he fell straight onto a bed of razor sharp nails. The pattern was even throughout until it neared his upper chest, where it became more concentrated, like a bulls eye around his heart. There was no swelling to suggest that the shards remained solid. It was likely they dissolved upon penetration, like they did when they rained down around us in the chamber. Only not as harmlessly.
Once I was sure it was proper to apply the bandages, but before we could start, he stirred. His eyelids fluttered partially open. He tried to speak but was too weak to form words. Instead a guttural gasp escaped his lips. He tried to move but failed, probably due to extreme pain. He relaxed and fell unconscious once again.
“We'll have to sit him up to secure the bandages. If he wakes up again, don't let him touch the exposed wounds.” I tried not to sound too sure of myself, because I wasn't.
I asked, “Where is his bedroom? He would rest better if he was comfortable. Not too far I hope.” I didn't want to move him too much, he might have been in shock.
“Actually, I don't think he has a room. I've never seen him away from the lab for very long. The nearest bedroom is yours, then the others next to it.”
“That will have to do. You do his legs while I finish his arms and face.”
We finished bandaging, leaving him looking like a mummy. After a break and replacing all we used Cohiri suggested using one of the potions in the medical box.
“How? Which one will help? Doesn't he have to drink one for it to work?” I could not guess the purpose of any one of the concoctions. They all had the Arcane presence.
“If I could divine the uses magically we would know which one to use, maybe even how.” She became eager to exercise her Arcane ability, yet she awaited my approval.
“Go for it, you should at least try.” I know I would appreciate the effort if I was in his condition.
She took a wide stance over the unidentified potions and squinted her eyes in concentration. She remained like that for a good five minutes. Gradually she drew back not ceasing until her eyes met mine.
She held up a flask. “This one has to be swallowed, it would probably heal him enough to walk out of here on his own.” She produced another. “This one is for poison.” She held up each one in turn describing its use and application. “This one is also for poison but stronger. This can be applied externally but there is only enough for maybe one limb. And these two are for serious wounds, again there is only enough together for maybe his torso.” She was pleased with her results and showed it openly with a broad smile.
“Lets use the three that we can on his torso and face. If he doesn't wake up, we'll carry him to a bed to rest.” What did we have to lose?
I unwrapped the target areas to apply the potions only to find that the wounds were nearly gone. They were reduced to mere blemishes, tiny pinpoints of discoloration. Further exposure revealed similar results over all. There seemed to be no point to using the potions, he was healing by himself. I guessed that he would regain consciousness within the hour.
“That is amazing!” She took the words right out of my mouth.
“Maybe we could just leave him here. He ought to be fine before long.” I was ready for some rest myself. Carrying him up the stairs would be a futile waist of energy. He would only awake to return to the lab again anyway. Then, recalling something out of parallel architecture on Earth I concluded the notion with the possibility of secret living chambers accessed through the lab. “You know, he might have a secret room in here.” I scanned the walls for signs of concealed doors. There were several places where a door might be hidden; behind a free standing cabinet or where the shelves seemed to be built differently and a small section of wall left empty-just wide enough to pass by sideways. Ignoring good manners I inspected each location, starting with the empty wall nearest to me.
I padded and probed for latches hidden in discreet but easily accessible places near the blank wall. I would glance over my shoulder to see if Morbannon was aware, he remained still, unconscious. Cohiri ignored my curiosity, drawn to the regenerating flesh on the bench.
“Hey, I think I can even see him healing! There!” She reached as if to touch the spot where she witnessed the phenomenon but stopped herself. She hesitated just before contact, something prevented her touch from alighting. “Wow, that is weird.” Slightly trembling, she put her hand before her eyes.
“I wouldn't do that any more...” I moved to the cabinet, there I opened doors and moved anything that could have been a trigger to the secret door. A couple of forgotten vials seemed to be too heavy for their size but neither produced the effect of triggering the elusive door.
Last, I tried the shelf that was designed differently. Among the various connectors and stands lay a stack of what resembled magazines, without fancy printed covers. I flipped through the stack by thumbing over the folded bindings. And under the third from the bottom was a thin metal plate shaped like an “L”; the short part making the lower line in the “L” was parallel to me. I pulled firmly, evenly, so as to ease it into opening the secret door.
At first the seemingly simple piece of metal resisted my pull. Then, without more than a subdued sigh the handle responded, metal on stone. The handle pulled straight out about two inches; without crossing the edges of the pamphlets. To my left, the free standing cabinet slid into the wall, revealing a passage leading into a well lit room, out of direct sight. I released the handle and whispered to Cohiri. “I found it! I'm going to check it out.” She didn't protest so I moved to sate my curiosity.
Beyond the short passage was a simple square doorway that led into a room much like the trophy room where Morbannon told his tale to me. The differences lay in the size of the room and quantity of trophies; there only eight or ten trophies all simple pack animals resembling wolves and savage looking hairless dogs that could be called Sabertooth Canines by imaginative Earthlings. The ceiling was low, set at what would be just an inch or two higher than Morbannon's crown, making the room seem cramped. Everything seemed to be placed too close together, like the designer preferred a claustrophobic air. Aside from the atmospheric character, the purpose was clearly for casual relaxation. The wall to the right held a door, also simple; not like the heavy brass bound doors common to the Keep proper. It was not locked. I opened it and stepped without looking first.
I found myself in the shadowed confines of a small but lavish bedroom, unlit, the contents hidden by darkness. There was a disturbing absence of the Arcane presence – even in my room and Cohiri's there was a lingering sensation from the Arcane; run off from the extensive magic's throughout the Keep. Here, there were none, as if shielded from all effluvium. The immediate sensation was a calm sense of security.
I stepped through the door and out of the direct light falling through the opening. There was enough light to reveal the center of the room, maybe fifteen to twenty feet square.
The floor was carpeted and designed into it were simple squares, dark blue on a red background. Also, in the dimmer light further in was the foot of a huge bed, the head of it was in shadow. On the floor in front of the huge bed was a chest. It was not very large but a latch could just be seen on its front. Even deeper into the shadowy room, against the wall was a floor lamp with a stained glass shade. I noticed a dim glow within the shade, suggesting that the lamp was lit and only needed to be turned up. I moved over and fumbled for the wick screw. I found it just below the glass cylinder that confined the flames dangerous properties. I turned it slowly and the flame grew brighter. I adjusted the flame until it provided ample light to illuminate the whole room.
There were other similar lamps that, when lit would light the room like daylight. There were no windows and no other doors. Empty alcoves lined the plastered walls, painted with decorative yet subdued patterns throughout. The empty alcoves were large enough and deep enough to hold enough personal belongings for anyone to be comfortably endowed with wardrobe, sundries, and anything else one might choose for material possessions. Yet they were empty, there was nothing that could be considered personal belongings at all. Save for the bed, chest and lamps, there was nothing that would facilitate one's basic needs; no clothes, no water nothing like that.
I tried opening the chest, its lid opened with a curious squeak.
From the lab, Cohiri's voice called to me in an obviously apprising tone. “Eric! Hey! Um, Eric...” Without seeing the contents of the trunk, I let the lid fall closed and quickly turned down the lamp before exiting and closing the door behind me. I strode across the living room and through the short passage. To my right Morbannon was up on his elbows, straining to sit up straight. Attempting to hide my prying I made for the trigger in the pamphlets.
As my hand reached the binding Morbannon managed to turn enough to catch me in the act.
In a voice wracked with strain he spoke to me. “Your curiosity is noted. What did you think?” His casual tone was rewarded with a spasm of pain.
I answered without thinking. “Simple.” It was all I could think to say.
He turned away and spoke to both of us. “Your performance was outstanding. You both did your part and I am grateful.” He leaned up onto one arm, seemed to falter but managed to sit up fully and turn to let his legs fall over the edge of the bench. “I didn't know what condition I would be in ...afterward. Bringing me here to the lab was the exact right thing to do. In here I am endowed, temporarily, with quasi-immortality. Specifically, I do not need the usual sustenance or sleep mortals require.” He half grunted, half sighed as he stretched his arms and legs and slipped to the floor to stand. “I owe you a little elucidation; the partial immortality is not free, I pay with luck. The longer I occupy this state of being, the more complicated my path to true immortality becomes. Without that factor, regaining my soul would have been much less painful. For both Eric and I. For that, Eric I will aid your friend, Kevin. But now I require the solace of my sanctum.” Weakly he assumed a stance to walk. His coordination was lacking and he wobbled weak kneed toward the open sanctum door. Something told me he would refuse any aid I offered. Cohiri assumed a concerned expression.
“Did it work? You have your soul?” She spoke out quickly, to finish her question before she could be interrupted.
He stopped his feeble stride to answer, as if walking and talking at the same time required too much effort. He inhaled deeply through his nose and answered with his best tone of confidence. “Yes. The armor is empty and I am full. Leave me now. I'll send for you thenceforth. Rest.” With those words he resumed his effort to gaining privy to the sanctum.
