[Nano novel] Chapter eleven: The search.

Taliesin woke up with a new dream vividly in his mind.  Ava's face filled his mind's eye, and she was riding Cernunnos across a sky that was full of rainbows.  They flew through them, unaffected, and the colored prisms of light played across her fair skin and Cernunnos' many-colored scales in a dizzying display of beauty.  There was thunder all around them, and a blackness in the sky that seemed ready to swallow them.  He was afraid, frightened for Ava and for the Great Dragon, and he tried to call out, to scream and warn them, but his voice made no sound.  It was as if he was not even there, but merely observing, as if looking through a window into someone else's memory or experience.

He lay, awake, but unable to shake the feeling of fear.  It felt very early, and the light in his room was very dim.  He could not go back to sleep, however, not after that kind of dream.  It had felt so real; he had never dreamed that way before.  He got out of bed and grabbed the robe that had been laid out across the wooden chest at the foot of the bed; there was a chill in the air.  He wondered if he could start a fire in the fireplace on his own, and decided to give it a try.

The hearth was stocked with a pile of split wood and some kindling, so he arranged it like he imagined he might have learned how if he had been a boy scout.  There were hot coals under the ashes, which he knew were there because he had noticed Greta covering them over carefully the morning before, so he poked at them and tried to prod them up underneath the twigs and dry bits that he was hoping would catch fire quickly.  The twigs started to give off a tiny curl of smoke, which excited him an inordinate amount.  He gently put a medium-sized piece of wood over the smoking pile, with the cut side facing it.  He was watching it so intently that he did not notice his door opening, or the hooded figure that came up behind him, until he was tapped on the shoulder.

"Hey!" he yelled in surprise, and jumped to his feet, a split log still in his hand.  "Tristan?  What are you doing here so early?"

Tristan pushed his face close to his own, and shushed him.  "Keep quiet!" he hissed in a stage whisper.  "He might be listening!"

Taliesin lowered his voice to a whisper as well.  "Who are you talking about?" he asked, trying to keep as quiet as possible.  He sat down on the hearth, and noticed that his little fire was failing miserably.  The curl of smoke that had looked so hopeful was nearly gone.

The magician crouched down next to him.  "Merlin, of course," he hissed.  "Come with me, and I will explain what I mean," and he grabbed Taliesin by the arm and dragged him, silently, through the door and down the dark hallway.  The windows at the end were faint shapes that could barely be seen in the early morning half-light, and the dark paneling of the walls and doors made it even dimmer.  Tristan hurried them along the hall, his feet making no noise at all, and turned down a hall that was opposite the doorway to the morning room.  Taliesin had only been down this hall once, yesterday, when he was carrying Ava back from their walk.  It led to the large staircase that he had climbed up, with her in his arms.  The small magician passed the staircase and kept going; now they were going deeper into the castle than Taliesin had been yet.

The hall here looked almost exactly the same as the one in the guest wing, except that the tiled flooring had no rug on it, so their feet made some slight sounds as they made their way toward whatever destination it was that Tristan had in mind. 

Taliesin was nearly about to ask the magician where he was being taken, when they stopped abruptly at a doorway, and Tristan took a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door, casting glances up and down the hall as he did so.  "In here!" he hissed, and almost yanked Taliesin's arm in his haste to get him through the door.

Inside was a small, cramped room, lined with shelves and stuffed with books.  In fact, it looked so much like Tristan's tiny cottage that Taliesin began to chuckle.  This was obviously the magician's laboratory, or personal library.  This must be the place he came to when he wanted to think and relax and write important things and ponder the meaning of life.

The magician gestured at the room in general.  "This is, for lack of a better term, my office.  I keep most of my journals here, and all my important papers and research.  I have only a few of my own things at my cottage, except for all my many books.  And as you can see, I have a great deal more books here, although some of them do belong in the Great Library.  I brought you here because I have spells on this room that protect it from eavesdropping or spying."

"So, like the spell to hide us that Cernunnos saw through?"  Taliesin hadn't meant to mock him, but that was the first thing that occurred to him to say.

Tristan's face grew a little red, and he sighed rather loudly.  "The Great Dragon's powers were obviously a little beyond my estimation.  It will not happen again.  And I can assure you that the protective spells I use here were taught me by Merlin himself, and I can trust their strength; he was the strongest among us.  It is about him that we must speak.  Sit down."

Taliesin found a low stool, and sat as Tristan instructed.  His curiosity was piqued, and he was also becoming a little bit nervous, as a result of the magician's paranoid manner.  He had thought that Tristan was merely putting on for show, but now he wondered if that initial assessment was wrong.

"I have discovered something, just an hour or two ago, that disturbs me deeply, and it moves up the time line drastically."

"Time line?  What are you talking about?"  Taliesin was confused.

"I thought - oh, bother it all.  I have had no chance to explain to you what I confirmed in my research this evening.  We do not have very much time, and you must believe me on this point.  We are all being watched, and you must leave in a matter of hours, less than that if possible, so that you can begin your journey before he realizes you have left."

"Leave in a few hours?  Where am I going?  You can't just - "

Tristan interrupted him.  "I understand your frustration and your confusion.  Please believe my words - time is not on your side.  Listen to me now, and I will try to make it as clear as possible."

Taliesin had stood up and was wavering between leaving and going back to his room, and staying to listen to what was beginning to seem like the paranoid fancies of an old man.  He decided that Tristan deserved at least the courtesy of his attention, so he sat back down and motioned for him to go on.

"Good lad.  Now, what I was searching for in the Library was a particular text, an alternate translation of the prophecy that reads the first part as:  the rainbow will bring forth a king and in him our destruction, instead of the more traditional:  the rainbow shall appear and bring forth a king, and he shall bring about our greatest danger.  Either translation can be taken as meaning the new king will BE the destruction or danger, or the danger will come as a result of his appearing.  I personally, through careful research, have concluded that this prophecy refers to you as the one who comes as the king, and to Merlin as the one who is brought about by your appearance here - he is our destruction, the most dangerous person to our world.  While I was re-reading the manuscripts once more, I sensed a presence in the Library, an ominous presence.  I tried to ascertain where in the building it - or he - was, and I followed its aura toward the castle.  Once I realized that it was indeed headed for the guest wing and your rooms, I knew that I had to act quickly."

His urgency was infectious, and Taliesin felt very bothered and anxious.  "But where did it go?"  he asked in a worried voice.  "Is it still here?  Is Ava safe?"

"She should be safe, yes... the prophecy pertains only to you, so I do not think that she will be bothered at all.  Merely an accident, I'm sure, her being here as well.  There are no prophecies about her.  The presence did leave, but only because of my spells and incantations - and I came into your room directly after I had chased it away, and now we are here.  And now you must prepare yourself for another journey.  I will get provisions for you, and a horse, and you should leave in no less than an hour from now, if at all possible."  His voice was very grave.

"But where am I going?" 

"You are the only one who can find the waystone in the rainbow's imprint.  The closest one is the mountain where Cernunnos sometimes dwells, where the girl came through, and a swift horse will get you there in less than a day.  I'll put these things in a saddlebag," and he began scooping up various small items from shelves and tables, acting for all the world as if Taliesin was not sitting there stunned and unmoving.

"I'm not going anywhere until I know what you mean," Taliesin said in a measured voice.  "Why am I the only one who can find it?  Why can't you go?"

Tristan stopped his packing for a moment and answered in a shocked voice.  "Me go!  I have to stay here, foolish boy - my research and knowledge are too important to this city and your future in it as king for me to be galloping toward the mountain, putting myself in danger!"

"Oh, so I will be in danger, then?  Just how much danger?"

Tristan waved his hand impatiently.  "I am sending you with spells, and you will have a sword and a belt knife.  I am sure that you can take care of yourself."

"You still haven't told me why I'm the only one who can find the waystone," Taliesin rejoined sharply.

"Because you just came through the rainbow!  I did not think I would have to explain such a simple concept to you twice!"

"You know what... I need some time to think about this.  I was not prepared for you to spring this on me, and I - I need to think.  I'll be back, but don't follow me," and Taliesin walked out the door as quickly as he had been hurried through it.

He shut the door quietly behind him, and now that he was once again out in the dimly lit hallway, with the silence of the castle all around him, and the thought of Ava alone in her room, possibly in danger, he began to wonder if what Tristan was asking of him was really too much.  He rubbed his eyes and walked back down the hallway the way they had come.  At the staircase, he paused and remembered carrying her upstairs what seemed like only hours ago.  Tristan might not think she was in danger, but he was not entirely sure that the magician had everything correct.  Ava had been through the rainbow too, and Ava seemed as likely a target as he was if the presence, which he assumed was connected to Merlin in some sinister way, was in the castle for evil purposes.

Was he really the only one who could do the thing that Tristan seemed convinced must be done?  He had not explained why the waystone was important.  Maybe it had some greater significance than merely being present at the time that all three of them had been translated into another world.  Maybe it had powers of its own.  He remembered that Tristan had a waystone in his cottage, and frowned at the recollection.  Why couldn't he be going back there to fetch that one, since the road back to the cottage, at least passingly familiar now that he had been down it once, was arguably safer than an unknown road to the mountain where the Great Dragon might be?

He continued to walk back toward the guest wing, thoughts turning this way and that inside his mind.  Tristan must be holding some important thing back, some piece of information that might cause his insistent request, which was hardly a request, to make more sense in Taliesin's frame of reference.  Before he realized it, he was standing in front of Ava's door.  Greta had told him to leave her alone, but that was before a crazy old man had whisked him out of his room to charge him with a ridiculous-seeming and time-sensitive quest.  He hesitated only a moment, and then opened her door as quietly as he could.

She was fast asleep, curled up on her side toward the windows.  Her rich red hair was very dark in the grey morning light, and he reached out tentatively to touch it, then thought better of it.  There was no reason to wake her up; he was not even sure what he was doing in here besides staring at her.  The longer he looked at her, peaceful and slumbering, the more he felt firm in his heart that if there was anything he could do to protect her, he would.  Whatever connection they had felt very strong to him already, even though he really did not know how she felt about him, if she felt anything at all.  He could not dream about her and experience her physical presence and talk with her, and not become attached in some way, even in such a short time.

Quite suddenly, his mind was made up.  He would accept this task, or quest, or whatever it was, if for no other reason than to ensure the safety of Ava and all the others in the castle, the ones he had met as well as the ones he hadn't.  If he was the 'king' in the prophecy, then he had some kind of power here, or at least some kind of job to do.  He looked at her one more time, then turned and padded quietly out of her room, shutting the door behind him with barely a sound.

He went into his room, dressed himself in his clothes from the day before, and rummaged around in the wardrobe until he found a heavier cloak and a more sturdy pair of leather boots.  He also found gloves, which he took, and a rather silly plumed hat, which he decided not to take.  Once he was completely dressed, he made the short trek back to Tristan's crowded little office.  As he passed the staircase, he glanced down and saw two servants walking together across the wide floor at the base of the stairs, speaking quietly to one another, apparently unconcerned with anything unusual happening in the castle at this early hour.

When he entered the room again, he found Tristan sitting in a chair, smoking a pipe and looking off into the distance with a faintly disgruntled look on his face.  He looked up as soon as Taliesin came back in, and motioned for him to shut the door quickly.  "Ah, good, good," he said.  "You appear to have made yourself ready to travel."

"I have," said Taliesin.  "I will go and find the waystone for you.  But first, you have to tell me what it is for, and why I must go to the mountain to get it - why can't I go to your cottage and bring you back that one?"

"Because, my lad, their powers are greatest when they were recently used.  There is something that I should be able to do with the stone when you bring it to me, something that should help ensure that Merlin has no way of coming back here again; but it can only be done when the stone is as full of the rainbow's strength as possible.  This is why you must go quickly - that, and I do not want him to send anything to block your way.  Take this bag - there are supplies for you, bread and cheese for eating, and several papers with spells already written on them.  They have some power, just the paper and the words, but you must use them carefully and sparingly.  There is a horse ready and saddled, with the rest of the things you might need."

“I guess I’m ready then,” said Taliesin.  It all seemed very final now.

Tristan led him out to the stables, where there was indeed a chestnut horse waiting for him, stamping and twisting his tail around in the dawn-tinted air.  He was saddled up, that much Taliesin could see for sure – but he was at a loss as to how to get on the horse in the first place, since he had never ridden one in his life.

Impatiently, Tristan waved at the stable boy, who was waiting patiently, holding the horse’s bridle.  “Help him up, would you please, boy?”

“Yes, sir,” the stable boy responded, and quickly gave Taliesin a heave up.  Taliesin managed to seat himself, but felt quite uncomfortable, and his legs were hanging awkwardly over the horse’s sides.  It would probably take him a long time to figure out how to sit properly, he lamented to himself.  For now, he was happy not to have immediately fallen off.

Tristan pointed to the west, in the direction of Cernunnos’ mountain, which was a faintly purple color.  “Ride directly toward the mountain, and do not stop.  If you ride all day, you should reach it by night fall.  Rest in the shadow of the mountain for the night, and be sure you arise with the dawn.  You will need to leave the horse tethered at the base, because the trail up the mountain is too steep for him to climb.  If you push as hard as you can, you should reach the top by the end of tomorrow; do not stop except to eat a little.  It is imperative that you go as fast as you can, and as carefully as you can.  Do you understand?”

Taliesin nodded, a little reluctantly now, because the prospect of riding all day and mountain climbing all the next was not something he realized that he was signing up for, and he was worried about his ability to actually do all the things Tristan was expecting of him. 

“What is the horse’s name?” he asked the stable boy.  “If I’m going to spend all day with him, I guess I should know his name.”

“Dragon Bane, sir,” replied the boy.