conversation an air of mystery that it might have otherwise lacked. They spoke in low tones, mindful of the precipice atop which they now stood, feeling a growing reverence for what lay beyond: the great sprawling unknown, too wonderful and terrible to ignore, too tantalizing to resist.
“Let me see th at last page again,” Gaven said, the firelight from the hearth playing across his broad face.
Andaris opened the box for the third time since his arrival. After his unsettling experience in the tower, he thought it best to limit his exposure. So far, however, there seemed no need. He’d not felt even the slightest bit out of sorts. No dizzy spells or nausea. Nothing.
A part of him wondered if he’d imagined the whole thing, a thought which he ultimately dismissed as paranoia. In general, when there’s no definitive evidence to the contrary, one may as well presume that one is not hallucinating.
Gaven’s wide fingers moved with their customary dexterity across the page. “This is definitely the same symbol from that archway,” he said, voice brooding and gravelly. “And I’m pretty sure I remember seeing some of these words somewhere, maybe in Ashel’s writings, or in what I guess we can now assume is The Lost City of Laotswend.”
“It could be related to the Lenoy without being the main city,” Andaris pointed out.
“True,” admitted Gaven. “But look here, where the tunnel leads from the outside into this room.”
Andaris followed the big man’s calloused finger with his eyes, feeling strangely detached. “Yeah…so?” he heard himself ask, words coming to him as if from a great distance—from across a thick, languid expanse, their meaning all but lost in the vague, mercurial mists of unreality.
“So,” Gaven answered, seemi ng oblivious to his dazed state, I think it’s the same room. Here’s an archway, and then if you turn here, and here, you end up in this hall. Remember, we went this way for a while and…sort of lost track of things, and then eventually ended up next to that pool where we met Marla. This circle with the squiggly lines could be that pool. I can’t be sure, of course. I don’t remember well enough. But it seems right, doesn’t it?”
Andaris nodded slowly, his sense of detachment growing. “That place was definitely a lot bigger than the part we explored. Certainly bigger than the part shown on this map. There were a lot of halls and rooms we didn’t go into, some that stretched as far as we could see. You know, I just realized what’s been bothering me. When I first looked at this in the tower, the scale was different. It showed things from more of a bird’s eye view. There was a lot more on the page, but the markers, like that pool, were too small for me to make out. Hmm. I wonder if there’s a legend somewhere.”
Gaven frowned, holding the map at arm’s length, eyeing it with sudden distrust. “Supposin’ it changed on account of what we were talkin’ about before you opened the box,” he said in a coarse whisper. “Mayhap it heard us.”
“Do you think Ashel could have—”
Gaven shook his head with surprising vehemence. “No. I know he’s been acting strange lately, but he wouldn’t do something like this. Not even after all you told me can I believe that. No, it’s gotta be somethin’ else.”
“Like?”
“Well, for starters, how ‘bout the magic of the Lenoy and of that place? Can’t you feel it, Andaris? It’s coming off these pages in waves, touching everything around it—including us.”
Andaris nodded. He could feel it all right, a kind of buzzing sensation that made his arms break out in gooseflesh and the hair on the nape of his neck stand on end.
“ If the map really is responding to what we say,” Gaven continued, “answering us in its way, then maybe we can just talk to it and tell it what we want to see.”
“So , what are you suggesting? You
“Let me see th at last page again,” Gaven said, the firelight from the hearth playing across his broad face.
Andaris opened the box for the third time since his arrival. After his unsettling experience in the tower, he thought it best to limit his exposure. So far, however, there seemed no need. He’d not felt even the slightest bit out of sorts. No dizzy spells or nausea. Nothing.
A part of him wondered if he’d imagined the whole thing, a thought which he ultimately dismissed as paranoia. In general, when there’s no definitive evidence to the contrary, one may as well presume that one is not hallucinating.
Gaven’s wide fingers moved with their customary dexterity across the page. “This is definitely the same symbol from that archway,” he said, voice brooding and gravelly. “And I’m pretty sure I remember seeing some of these words somewhere, maybe in Ashel’s writings, or in what I guess we can now assume is The Lost City of Laotswend.”
“It could be related to the Lenoy without being the main city,” Andaris pointed out.
“True,” admitted Gaven. “But look here, where the tunnel leads from the outside into this room.”
Andaris followed the big man’s calloused finger with his eyes, feeling strangely detached. “Yeah…so?” he heard himself ask, words coming to him as if from a great distance—from across a thick, languid expanse, their meaning all but lost in the vague, mercurial mists of unreality.
“So,” Gaven answered, seemi ng oblivious to his dazed state, I think it’s the same room. Here’s an archway, and then if you turn here, and here, you end up in this hall. Remember, we went this way for a while and…sort of lost track of things, and then eventually ended up next to that pool where we met Marla. This circle with the squiggly lines could be that pool. I can’t be sure, of course. I don’t remember well enough. But it seems right, doesn’t it?”
Andaris nodded slowly, his sense of detachment growing. “That place was definitely a lot bigger than the part we explored. Certainly bigger than the part shown on this map. There were a lot of halls and rooms we didn’t go into, some that stretched as far as we could see. You know, I just realized what’s been bothering me. When I first looked at this in the tower, the scale was different. It showed things from more of a bird’s eye view. There was a lot more on the page, but the markers, like that pool, were too small for me to make out. Hmm. I wonder if there’s a legend somewhere.”
Gaven frowned, holding the map at arm’s length, eyeing it with sudden distrust. “Supposin’ it changed on account of what we were talkin’ about before you opened the box,” he said in a coarse whisper. “Mayhap it heard us.”
“Do you think Ashel could have—”
Gaven shook his head with surprising vehemence. “No. I know he’s been acting strange lately, but he wouldn’t do something like this. Not even after all you told me can I believe that. No, it’s gotta be somethin’ else.”
“Like?”
“Well, for starters, how ‘bout the magic of the Lenoy and of that place? Can’t you feel it, Andaris? It’s coming off these pages in waves, touching everything around it—including us.”
Andaris nodded. He could feel it all right, a kind of buzzing sensation that made his arms break out in gooseflesh and the hair on the nape of his neck stand on end.
“ If the map really is responding to what we say,” Gaven continued, “answering us in its way, then maybe we can just talk to it and tell it what we want to see.”
“So , what are you suggesting? You
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