Durch Ferne Welten und Zeiten - 8. Chapter 8: Arrival in Barrone

Chapter 8: Arrival in Barrone

Arthur’s estimate of their travel time had been correct; the ship docked at Barrone only two ten-days after the boys had left Bowling Green. Rudy and Alexis walked back and forth on the quay to accustom themselves to ground that didn’t rise and fall with each swell of the sea. Then, “Where should we begin?” Alexis asked.

“I must get a message to Sam. He will have learned by now that I am missing. He will be worried; but, first, we have to go to the college,” Rudy replied.

The door opened to a narrow hallway. A few feet from the door, a small table constricted the hallway. Behind the table sat a boy with yellow hair. He wore a blue tunic belted at his waist, and sandals. He smiled. “Welcome to the College—

“Rudy!” the boy cried.

“Petrus!” Rudy answered. The boys embraced.

“Where were you? Who is this? What happened?” Petrus asked between kisses. “Oh! I must tell the masters.” He repeatedly tugged the bell-rope.

People filled the hallway: robed masters, journeymen in tunics and smocks, and boys in a kaleidoscope of kinds and colors of clothing. “Silence!” The voice of Master Criticus cut through the babble. “Please return to your studies. Petrus, show Rudy and his companion to my laboratory. And someone please find Marty and Chandler, and our newest visitors and bring them, as well.”

Marty and Chandler’s kisses were as effusive as had been those of Petrus. Master Criticus had promised to send a message to Sam. Rudy was beginning to relax when two boys burst into the laboratory.

“Mark? Kevin? Are you . . . are you really you? How . . .? Oh! You followed me!” Rudy held Alexis’s hand, tightly. “Oh, you shouldn’t have! I shouldn’t have!”

Alexis grasped the situation instantly. “You followed Rudy through the gate he created?” Mark nodded. Alexis turned to Rudy. “You did nothing wrong, Rudy,” he said. “You are not in trouble.”

“You seem quite free dealing with an apprentice sworn to me, and who has been missing under unusual circumstances for several tendays,” Master Criticus said. “Yet you also seem quite confident that you are justified in doing so.” He raised his eyebrows and looked at Alexis.

Alexis nodded. “I am justified in a way that only a very wise man can understand and resolve. You see, Rudy and I swore eternal brotherhood about a month before he swore his oath of apprenticeship to you. That was also about three days after he swore that oath to you.”

Marty spoke into the silence that fell after Alexis’s announcement. “He speaks the truth, Master.”

Chandler spoke, next. “There is only one explanation: Rudy went through a gate; the gate took him back in time where he met Alexis, and swore the oath by the calendar, before he swore his oath, here.”

“Very close. Rudy went through two gates,” Alexis said. “One took him to Mark and Kevin’s world, a world like Marty and Chandler’s. The second gate brought him back to this world about two months ago. I was waiting for him, following instructions in The Book of Heroes. It took us less than a day to realize we were heart-bound and to swear to one another.”

Master Criticus spoke. “You said that there was a resolution?”

“Yes, Master,” Alexis said. “But only you can make it happen. Please understand that I must be part of the solution. Rudy will become a great mage in this life. Even before he and I met, he was remembering, and he was using the great magic with precision and control. Still, there is much for him to learn. The best way for that to happen is for him to be a student, here. It would not, however, be suitable to have this conflict hanging over his head like a sword on a thread that could break at any moment.”

“Rudy,” Master Criticus spoke his understanding without hesitation. “I release you from your oath of apprenticeship without prejudice. You are now free to consider and swear a new oath, if you wish. The new oath would in every respect and regard be subordinate to the oath you took with Alexis.

“Alexis,” the master continued, “we bring into apprenticeship boys who will become powerful. They sometimes lack gravitas. They will learn to create magic faster than they learn to control it. I must have a way to control them. I will not say discipline them, for discipline is an adult trait; I will not say punish them, for punishment seldom achieves anything.

“You are a tween, yet, I see a hidden streak of maturity in you. You are also a very powerful mage. However, there is a wildness about your magic. You have had some training, but could, I think, use more.

“That, too, must be part of the resolution. Alexis, if you and Rudy agree, you both will swear oaths to me. You will be responsible for controlling Rudy. If you are going to do that, you must live at the college; but, you must pay your way.

“Hmm. I think I will make you Provost of the College and put you in charge of controlling all the boys and tweens. There will be other duties which we can discuss.

“Master Criticus, if Rudy agrees—” Alexis began.

“I agree!” Rudy said.

“Master Criticus, since Rudy has agreed, he will take a new oath of apprenticeship. I will take an oath, as well, to be a student and to endeavor by precept and example to keep the natural high spirits of the boys channeled in constructive paths.”

Master Criticus nodded. “I agree. We will make these oaths after supper, tonight, in front of the entire body of the college, after which your and Rudy’s first duties will be to tell us of the adventure that took Rudy from here and returned you both.”

Chandler had invited Alexis to exchange scrubs, and more, after supper. Alexis was happy for Rudy to be able to share with Mark and Kevin, both of whom scrubbed the boy amid a stream of giggles.

“Alexis,” Chandler said, “You led Master Criticus to the solution that suited your ends, yet was best for Rudy and, I think, the college. Perhaps, it was best for World. You were very clever. Are you a lawyer?”

Alexis stared at Chandler. “A what?”

Chandler grinned. “Glad to know you’re not!”

Mark, Kevin, and Rudy shared a bed. They weren’t sure who had asked whom, first, but had agreed to a three-way sharing.

“You promised to look for me,” Rudy said. “I didn’t know that meant giving up your own world.”

“Um, Rudy,” Kevin began, “I wasn’t really looking for you. I was ready to try anything to escape.” He shuddered. “I was going to kill myself—jump into the gorge—if this hadn’t worked.”

Mark gasped, and then hugged Kevin closely. “Oh, please, no! Please tell me you wouldn’t have left me!”

“That was long ago, my beloved,” Kevin said. “That was in a place where I was raped by my brother while my father stood silent. It was a place where the only alternative was the child protective services, where I’d be put in a home or a juvenile center, where I’d still be raped. I couldn’t take any more of that!

“Mark, I love you, and I really like it when we have sex—share. I like it, because I know that you’re trying to make me feel good. When my brother raped me, he was trying to make only himself feel good. He was trying to find pleasure only for himself. You know how to make me feel good. You know how to make me cum when you’re in me. I know that you care. That’s part of why I love you.”

After the hug that followed Kevin’s words, Mark spoke. “It took me a while to figure this out,” he said. “But I realized that to my mother, I was only a meal ticket.”

He giggled at Rudy’s perplexed expression. “What I mean, is that she saw me as a source of income—money from the welfare people, more money than she’d get without me. As long as I ate less than the welfare people paid, she’d be okay with me.

“I don’t know what happened, but her welfare checks started getting smaller.”

Mark frowned. “Either that, or she found other ways to spend money. In any case, I’m pretty sure she had figured out that I was more a liability than an asset, and was trying to find a way to get rid of me.

“Kevin, if you had asked, I would have jumped into the gorge with you,” Mark said.

Rudy gasped, and then hugged his friends tightly. “I am so glad you didn’t do that.”

Rudy’s reunion the next day with Andy was happy, but somewhat muted. They had been best friends in another life; both had found new love in this life. When Andy understood that Rudy and Alexis were forever-companions, he was pleased. It didn’t mean that he and Rudy would never share; but it did mean Andy didn’t have to worry about how Billy might feel about that.

Ethan was the greeter when Sam arrived the third morning. “Rudy’s back!” Ethan said. Then, “How did you know?”

“The messenger Master Criticus sent, of course,” Sam said. “Where is Rudy? When may I see him? Is he in class?”

“I think he and Alexis are in Marty and Chandler’s laboratory. They’re talking about something secret. I’ll send a message,” Ethan said, and then pulled the signal rope.

“Who is Alexis?” Sam asked.

“Um, I’ll let them tell you,” Ethan said.

Rudy and Sam hugged. “Something’s changed,” Sam said. “You were gone for only a month, but you’ve changed.”

“I’m remembering more, Sam,” Rudy said. “I’m remembering so much more and . . .” The boy started to cry. “Sam, I don’t want to hurt you!” Rudy pressed his cheek to Sam’s chest and hugged him tightly.

Alexis took Sam’s hand and then Rudy’s, and said what the boy could not say. “Sam, Rudy and I have formed a bond, a strong, eternal bond. It does not lessen the bond you and he have, but . . .”

Sam nodded. “I knew that this might happen. I knew that if Rudy were to enter the college and live outside the close family of the farm, he would meet people like those we met on our travels, he would find someone better than me, someone to replace me—”

“No!” Rudy said. He was sobbing and choked out his words a few at a time. “Not better. Not replace. Love shared is love multiplied. Sam. You taught me that! I believe it! Alexis does too!”

Sam’s face turned white and he might have fainted had Alexis not held him up. “I’m sorry, Rudy. I didn’t mean it that way! I want you to grow, to be more than a farm boy, reared by a farmer; I wanted you to find people who could teach you what I could not. That’s all I meant! I was hoping for this!”

“Oh.” Rudy stopped crying, thought for a moment, and then smiled. “Sam, please meet Alexis, who is going to continue the education you began.”

“Provost. From the Old Elvish, praepositus meaning head or chief. Obviously something is lost in translation, since you are the head of the college.” Alexis and Rudy had joined Criticus in the master’s laboratory. Marty and Chandler faced Alexis across the workbench. Petrus quietly sat in a corner, hoping not to draw attention to himself. He learned so much when his master allowed him to listen. Of course, he could not on his oath tell anyone else, but he might learn something useful. Something that would give him an advantage over this strange tween who would have power over the apprentices and journeymen.

“Further,” Alexis continued, “Your commission to me is very nebulous. I hope that was deliberate and that it means you will trust me to find a balance. Actually, several balances. I’ve long believed that it is often better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission—in some things. I think that the rules of the Thieves Guild are designed to challenge as much as restrict, and that the boys who press the rules, who test them, who learn what the real limits are and why there are real limits, will be the most successful boys. I think this applies elsewhere than the Guild.

“I also believe that to suppress a boy’s natural spirit of adventure is harmful. I believe that to inculcate rules based on superstition and illogic is not only harmful, it is Evil.” Alexis paused.

Criticus nodded. “There is a scroll in the library that is very ancient. It holds only 37 words; however, it is perhaps the most important lesson we teach. Petrus, tell him the First Lesson.”

Petrus recited the first lesson, the one that preceded even the precepts: “Doubt; question everything. Doubt leads to questioning; questioning leads to truth. Distinguish rational proof from propaganda or persuasion. Be precise with words and demand precision of others. Be wary of error, even in the most ancient texts.”

Alexis smiled. “My master told me those words, too,” he said.

Alexis continued. “I think we have an understanding, that neither Petrus nor Rudy had better try to take advantage of: the boys are free to explore, as long as they don’t hurt anyone or cause damage that can’t be repaired.”

Master Criticus nodded. “Petrus and Rudy will, of course, not reveal what we have said; however, they will be as free as the other boys to test the limits of the rules—and of you.

“You said you would lead by precept and example. I will be most interested in seeing you succeed.”

Chandler laughed. “Alexis, you are, indeed, a lawyer, and I’m glad you’re on our side.”

The Origin of the Gates

Master Criticus taught no classes; nor did any of the masters. Rudy and the other apprentices were free to explore magic in its many forms: alchemy, physics, healing, creating, and destroying. Every journeyman and master stood ready to be a teacher and a mentor; yet, none of them forced or even offered themselves to the apprentices. It was up to the apprentice to ask, to seek, to want to learn.

It was not long before Rudy understood this. Perhaps he knew it from a previous apprenticeship; perhaps he recognized that despite his ancient heritage and memories, the others had something to teach him. Rudy and Alexis were frequent visitors in the laboratory of Marty and Chandler, far underground, where light came from myriad tiny points in the ceiling.

There were no formal lesson plans; nor were Marty and Chandler always the instructors. On this day, Alexis began the session.

“Rudy,” Alexis said. “You said you had tried to create gates several times before you succeeded. Do you remember the failures well enough to describe them?” Alexis knew that Rudy was remembering his past lives much sooner than normal; he suspected that Rudy’s presence in the college was awakening more of these memories.

“The first time was here,” Rudy said. “After the war, after Marty and Chandler disappeared—everyone said died, but I knew better—after I became a Master and after Master Fitzgerald died, I took over this laboratory. The first time I tried was here. I remember burning the herbs and reading the chant.”

Rudy paused. He looked at the floor and furrowed his brow. “There’s something I can’t quite remember—wait! Yes, there was power, I felt it, I saw it. Yes! The lights—the lasers—they flickered. Something happened, but no gate opened.”

“Chandler knew that the lasers had to be spaced evenly so that the magic that powered them wouldn’t interfere with spells. Do you suppose that happened, anyway?” Marty asked.

“It’s a good hypothesis,” Chandler said.

“What about the next time?” Alexis prompted.

“I remember going away from the college looking for a place where there wouldn’t be interference. I went west. I stopped at the top of the hill just outside the town and looked back. I could see the college. It glowed, but the glow was pulsing. That was an indication of the interference. So I traveled west for several days.”

“Go on,” Alexis encouraged.

“There was an inn. I took a room. An apprentice was with me . . . I remember . . . no, I don’t remember his name. We walked from the inn to a hill. The hill was a locus, but the magic there was . . . smooth? Calm? I could use the magic, but it wouldn’t interfere with a spell. At least, that’s what I thought.

“We tried . . . we tried several times. I felt the power, but nothing happened.”

“Do you think you could find this hill, again?” Alexis asked.

“Um, it’s been, how many thousand years?” Marty asked.

“Arthur and George found you and Chandler 6,000 years after you disappeared,” Alexis said. “And, if this hill was a place of power, it probably still is. That should help us find it.”

Alexis explained the mission to Master Criticus, who agreed that the boys might try to find the hill. “Please do not try to open a gate,” he said. “Not until we have more time to understand this.” Alexis nodded assent.

“This must be the inn,” Rudy said. “Because that,” he pointed to a monadnock that rose from the forest north of the inn. “That’s the hill. I’ll never forget that shape. We climbed to the top, and that’s where we tried to make a gate, but nothing happened.”

“Actually,” Alexis said. “I think something did happen . . . but it happened several thousand years later. That’s Glabber.”

Marty and Chandler nodded. “It’s where we disappeared and reappeared in this time.”

“I think,” Alexis said, “that you created the gate that brought Marty and Chandler to this time.”

Marty and Rudy both looked askance at Alexis, as if they thought he were nuts; however, Chandler nodded. “That’s very logical,” he said. “Someone had to create the gate. It wasn’t a deus ex machina. I refuse to believe that. It wasn’t just the random thoughts of Good people. I cannot believe that, either. It had to be an act of volition. Who, besides Rudy, would have done it?”

Rudy shook his head. “When you say it that way, it makes sense, but . . .”

“Next question,” Alexis asked. “Where were you just before the gate took you to Mark and Kevin’s world?”

“At the college, of course,” Rudy said. “I said that.”

“But where, exactly?”

“He was supposed to be in our laboratory,” Chandler began. “Marty and I were—”

“I was!” Rudy said. “I was running down the stairs and had almost reached the door. Oh! I made that gate, too? Is that what you think?”

“Once more,” Alexis said. “It’s a very good hypothesis.”

The boys had climbed to the top of Glabber. “I want to try one thing before we go back to the college,” Alexis said.

“But you said Master Criticus told you not to open a gate!” Rudy said.

“Not that. Rudy, do you remember seeing the Ley Lines on Earth?” The boy nodded. “Then, please look, and tell me what you see.”

Alexis unrolled a map and, with Rudy guiding him, drew the four Ley Lines that intersected at Glabber in an eight-pointed star. “It’s a new kind of magic, I think,” Chandler said after Rudy had taken his hand and showed him the lines. “This is dangerous knowledge!”

“Like all untrained mages and unknown magic, it can be dangerous. It could be even more dangerous if it were to become known to the Dark,” Alexis said. “On your oaths to the Light and to the college, I charge you not to speak of this to anyone except the four of us and Master Criticus.”

“You can’t tell us what to do,” Marty began, but Chandler shushed him.

“Yes, he can, and we will obey. Remember, we swore oaths not to Master Fitzgerald but to the Master of the College. That’s Master Criticus, now. He has put Alexis in a position of power over all the boys and tweens. He speaks with the master’s authority.

“How can you balance this?” Chandler asked Alexis. “You’re technically not even an apprentice, but you have authority over me, and I’m a master, and a lot older than you.”

“Your question holds the answer,” Alexis said. “Balance. Stability.

“There are natural laws that govern everything in World that does not have volition. Laws that govern the interaction of elements; laws that govern the attraction one thing has for another.

“We do not question these laws. Even if we did, I’m not sure we’d get answers.

“Power over a master such as yourself? Your great power must be balanced with restraint; perhaps, there is room for someone to guide you? And for someone to guide me.

Chandler was quiet for a long time. The boys looked from him to Alexis, waiting for one of the tweens to speak. Finally, Chandler did.

“You are right. I remember so many times I was afraid to use my power; I remember times when I hated myself for using it, even though I knew I was using it for Good.”

Chandler paused. He seemed to dive deeply inside himself. He spoke, quietly but firmly.

“Alexis, please watch me. Please make sure I never, never turn to the Dark. Please do whatever you must to make sure of this.”

Both Alexis and Marty gasped. “Chandler!” Marty cried. “You’re asking him . . .”

“I know what I’m asking, Marty,” Chandler said. He took Marty’s hand. “And you know it’s right.”

“I, too, know what you’re asking,” Alexis said. “And I will accept. On one condition. That you watch over me, as well, and do whatever you must to make sure I do not turn to the Darkness.”

Chandler nodded. All the boys understood. Two powerful mages had pledged themselves to the Light, giving the other the power to destroy them—the ultimate death of the soul—should they turn to the Dark. Rudy and Marty clasped hands and looked into the other’s eyes. After a moment, they nodded. Rudy spoke for them both.

“We know what you did,” he said. “We will not allow this to happen, for we will always be with you, and we will never, never allow you to turn to the Darkness.”

During the week it took to return to the college, Marty and Chandler joked about camping out, wishing for marshmallows and something called s’mores. “We know about that,” Alexis reminded them. “Is it really true that you didn’t go with Arthur and his companions because you didn’t want to live on the road?”

“There was some of that, but mostly, I think, we hoped that we’d see some of our friends—in their new lives—in Barrone. Except for Rudy, though, that hasn’t happened.”

A large map of Arcadia was pinned to a table in the library. On top of it was pinned the map they’d made at Glabber. Marty and Rudy watched as Alexis and Chandler stretched strings across the maps, carefully lining them up with the Ley Lines drawn across Glabber, and then pinned the strings to the table.

“We don’t need to be too accurate,” Alexis said. “The map, itself, is probably more notional than exact.”

“That may not be,” Chandler said. “Some of the best maps were created by scryers, and are thought to be quite accurate. This is one such, which is why I selected it for you.”

“Now,” Alexis said. “Do you have the list of gates from The Book of Heroes?” Creating a list of all gates mentioned, and their locations, had been Rudy and Mark’s job.

“First: Arthur bringing George here from Earth.” Rudy said. “They appeared about a day west of Ulan Woods in Elvenhold. This line goes near there.”

“Second: Argon to Earth. Coming back doesn’t count, since we know who opened that gate.”

“Yes,” Kevin said. “But the shaman said, afterwards, that something on the other side had helped.”

“I didn’t write that.” Rudy said. “Wait a minute! How could Phillip know what happened after he left Earth?”

“I don’t know,” Alexis said. “But it was in the book.”

“Will you tell us the story?” Marty asked.

“Can you tell us?” Rudy and Chandler asked.

“Tonight,” Alexis said. “I will read it to you from my copy of the book. But it’s going to cost you.”

“Huh?” Rudy raised his eyebrows.

“Cuddles, Rudy, lots of cuddles,” Alexis said.

“Hey! Me too!” Marty said.

Chandler nodded. “This could be fun.”

“Guaranteed!” Alexis said. “But, the map. Who is next?”

“Paul and Larry to World. They appeared west of Carter. The same line that runs near Ulan Woods is close. But the monastery is not on the map.”

“May be too small; may not exist,” Alexis said. “Paul and Larry were maybe 65,000 years ago. Even on World, that’s a long time.”

“Anyway, didn’t they say they were pulled here by a story, and the magic of the boys who heard the story?” Marty asked.

“True. But I’m starting to think that Rudy may have set up the gates, but that perhaps something else contributed power to them, perhaps triggered them,” Chandler said.

Alexis nodded. “Makes a lot of sense. Next?”

“Jon and Tyler. Within a day or so of Bow.”

“There’s no town of that name. When were they?”

“Maybe 40,000 years ago? No town on this map, but look: an oxbow lake and an unnamed village at the north end, and near a Ley Line.”

“This is where Chandler and I came out. We walked east, right?” Marty asked, pointing to the map.

“Yes, and about 20 miles, I’d guess. That would put us right here.” Chandler put his finger on a string.

“And this line goes on to where I appeared in the middle of a pond,” Rudy said, and giggled. “I was half-naked, washing mud out of my pants when Alexis found me.”

“Yep,” Alexis said. He put his arms around Rudy and pulled him into a hug. “Out in the middle of nowhere. Half naked. You were so beautiful—the most beautiful boy in any world—”

“Get a room, guys!” Marty said. He giggled.

“No, Marty,” Chandler said. “I know just what Alexis means. I told you that the first time I saw you in homeroom I wanted to kiss you? That was because you were the most beautiful boy I’d ever seen.

“I’ve learned a lot more reasons to love you since then, but I still think you’re the most beautiful boy in World—in any world.”

“Hmph,” Alexis said. He looked at Chandler. “We may have to settle this on the field of honor.”