Gathering of the Titans: The Tol Chronicles Book 2 (6 page)

Everyone on both sides of the negotiating table was skeptical of the Magineer Liaison’s ability to navigate the intricacies of a trade agreement on so little notice, but as usual Boogla surprised them all. She took virtually every bargaining chip Goameel had brought along and employed them to their fullest extent—even one over which no one had expected to achieve an agreement. By the last break of the day, she had gotten every single concession Tragacanth had sought and two more in addition. There was one session left, the purpose of which was to summarize and confirm the agreements made so that the formal treaty could be drawn up overnight to be signed in the morning by both sides.

Boogla sat at the conference table going through a stack of ledgers, looking for data on a particular military-related materiel acquisition program when she noticed some odd entries. She studied them for a while, correlating the debits against actual equipment requisitions and discovered that there was a considerable discrepancy for several pieces of valuable equipment, both technological and arcane. It appeared as though someone was purchasing more technology than the acquisition vouchers stipulated.

Boogla called in her Edict Enforcement Liaison and showed her the anomalies. She made copies of the relevant documents and departed. Then she brought the evidence over to the head trade delegate from Solemadrina, Deputy Minister of Trade Relations Wabeno Utna. As she went over the discrepancies with him, a minor member of his delegation who had been seated nearby quietly left the table and the room. Boogla watched her go.

Deputy Utna agreed that the numbers had been falsified for whatever reason and corrected them on the requisition tickets. Boogla watched him closely with her social engineer’s expert eye. He was telling the truth: he did not know the origin of the attempted theft, for that is what it amounted to. She made a mental note to audit past years’ ledgers looking for similar falsifications.

The treaty was signed the next morning and the Solemadrinans took ship back to their homeland. Boogla noticed that the delegate who had slipped out of the conference room was not among the passengers debarking. “She has family here and will be staying a few extra days to visit with them,” Deputy Utna explained. Boogla didn’t believe a word of it, but she smiled congenially and wished them a safe journey nevertheless.

That night she was up late examining ledgers and uncovering a systematic theft of dozens of pieces of sophisticated military and civilian equipment over the past four years. She asked the head of His Majesty’s Secret Service to come in: not as Magineer Liaison, but Royal Consort. She used that title and position only when absolutely necessary; in this case it was.

Principal Special Agent Hobert Akkina was a goblin of breeding and sophistication who also possessed some of the finest detective and martial arts skills in the kingdom. She showed him the evidence she had amassed and then a list of trade delegate names. The only one that appeared every time thefts were documented was Esfina Frem. Akkina looked concerned.

“Your Highness, Ms. Frem is a known underworld operative with strong probable ties to organized crime. I was not aware she remained behind when the ship sailed. This is worrisome; I know of no family of hers here. I will speak to the RPC about doubling your guard for a while.”

“Doubling my guard? Why, do you think she’ll be targeting me?”

“Quite possible. From what I read you not only uncovered her theft operation, you instituted a new contract that will make it more difficult for her organization to participate in the black market. She may well find you an unacceptable threat to operations. Be vigilant.

” When Boogla finally came to bed Aspet was already asleep. He was leaving for the Kopyrewt Forest early in the morning to oversee the dedication of Tragacanth’s first protected natural preserve. The RPC would fill him in on what was going on during the carriage trip, most probably. She kissed him tenderly on the forehead and crawled under the covers next to him.

She was barely awake when got up, dressed, and kissed her goodbye.

Twenty kilometers to the west, in a small inn on the outskirts of Goblinopolis, a deal was being made between a female goblin and scrawny hobgoblin dressed in military fatigues.

“It is agreed, then,” the goblin said, “Ten thousand up front and another ten when the job is completed.”

“Provided you do indeed have the currency up front, it is agreed.”

The goblin swung a heavy case up onto the table and snapped it open. “Count it yourself,” she commanded. The hob did.

“Everything appears in order. The contract will be carried out within forty-four hours.”

“The remainder of the money will be dead-dropped at the location we discussed previously within an hour of confirmation that the contract was fulfilled. Don’t get caught; the penalty for high treason in Tragacanth is particularly nasty and unpleasant.”

“If I get caught there will be no complications.” He smiled and showed her a dark purple capsule hidden securely in a cheek pouch. “Nivril bean powder: highly purified. Kills within fifteen seconds.”

“Be certain you have no physical evidence on you that could lead them back to us.”

“I am a professional, madam. It shall be so.”

“I have engaged the services of a well-respected organization to deal with the supply chain problem. Yes, the arrangements have all been made. Within forty-four hours. I will be waiting in Cladimil for the shipment to be released. Yes. The stockholders needn’t worry; the merchandise will be delivered on time or at worst a little late. Yes, that contingency has been covered. No, no further delays are anticipated. Goodbye.”

The Royal rail carriage took Aspet as far as Port Zog, where he had to make a decision: he could stay on the rails around to Lumbos and take the Northeast Coastal Highway up to Kopyrewt, or get off here and follow a series of smaller roads to the forest directly. He consulted with the RPC director to get his views on the relative safety of the two routes. The Lumbos route was significantly further in distance, but the roads were better and Aspet could be whisked away by fast ship if some emergency arose. The direct route was shorter, but the roads were less reliable and the country along the way largely uninhabited. Too many good ambush spots; Coastal Highway it was.

Kopyrewt is a vast, mostly pristine temperate rain forest that averages over 200 cm of precipitation a year. Until fairly recently it was virtually untouched, but the ever-increasing demand for wood products to satisfy a growing population began to nibble away at the edges. While sustainable forestry practices were now widespread in the industry, environmental groups had been lobbying energetically for some form of protection for the unique rain forest biome. Aspet had taken an interest in the forest and its hundreds, if not thousands, of unique species and decided that one of his legacies would be a Tragacanthan National Preserve system.

He was here in the heart of the forest, therefore, to declare the formation of Kopyrewt Natural Preserve, to be overseen by the Tragacanthan Natural Resources Administration, also being created today by Royal Proclamation. As this was an historic day for the nation, the number of dignitaries and members of the press in attendance was greater than usual. That meant that the RPC had to bring more agents than customary, as well. The ceremony took place an hour before mid-day on a dais carved from the trunk of a skytoucher tree downed by one of the vicious cyclones that occasionally brush along the northeast edge of the forest. Before Aspet could get on with the declarations and proclamations, however, a small band of dwarves in ritual costumes asked if they may speak with His Majesty.

“Majesty Tragacanth, we beseech you today, in the midst of this noble and much-needed protection of our great forest, to grant protected religious status to a small grove deeper in the woods which serves as the central shrine of our faith.”

“I bid you welcome, noble monks. By what name does your faith call itself?”

“We are known as the Sect of H’esh’tuk, Your Regal Majesty.” Aspet consulted privately with the RPC director, Dolmax, as the Corps tracked all manner of organized groups throughout the kingdom.

“They are registered as a religious order, Your Majesty. Their spiritual leader resides in a small church in Dockside, Goblinopolis and is known as
The Exalted One
. His race is unknown; we have no record of any similar creatures anywhere on N’plork.”

“Interesting. He presents no threat, though?”

“We have had him and his sect under routine surveillance for a number of years and they have never taken any actions that would be contrary to their stated purpose. They are rated as a level two threat solely due to his indeterminate origin.”

Aspet nodded. He returned to the dwarves. “I am minded to consider your proposal, but I will need a little more information regarding the shrine and the grove in which it is located.”

“It is not far along the path behind your dais, Your Majesty. We invite you to come and see it for yourself.”

The king looked around and shrugged. “Who wants to take a little walk with me?” he asked, and stepped down off the dais. Soon a bureaucrat and media parade had formed: the dwarves and Aspet surrounded by a cloud of RPC, followed by dignitaries and press in no particular order. They walked perhaps two hundred and fifty meters into the deep forest along a path that seemed to be made of living roots and plants that formed a springy but easily navigable walkway. The path led to a clearing, in the center of which was built a small bulb-shaped shrine that came to a point far above them. It did not appear to be crafted by dwarven hands, nor goblin, but rather by enormous roots from the giant purple skytoucher trees that surrounded the small meadow. They swirled in from all sides and spiraled up until they met in a vertical braid that was a lofty as any of the trees themselves.

The effect was that of a tree-root vortex that swirled away into near-infinity. It was spectacular to behold. “Did you somehow train these tree roots to form this beautiful structure?” Aspet asked the dwarves. “Not as such,” answered the spokesperson, “Rather, we asked the forest spirit to sanctify this spot, and it responded in this manner.”

“Why
this
spot, precisely?”

“It was here that our spiritual leader, H’esh’tuk the Exalted One, first materialized on this plane, Your Majesty.”

Aspet glanced meaningfully at Dolmax, who was writing in a notepad. “Materialized, you say? From where?”

“No disrespect intended, Your Majesty, but that is a question much better answered by the Exalted One himself. He has asked me to extend his open invitation to meet with you at your convenience to discuss himself and the Sect.”

“I will most certainly take that under consideration and, if our schedules permit, take him up on this offer at some point in the near future. Please convey my gratitude for his most gracious invitation.”

“Your Majesty’s reputation for courtesy and wisdom seems most well-founded,” replied the dwarf, “I will relay your message, of course.”

Aspet shook the monk’s hand and turned to look at the shrine once more. He walked around to the far side, admiring the way the roots came together seamlessly, when he turned to say something to Dolmax. He suddenly shimmered and vanished with a confused look on his face. Dolmax threw himself onto the spot where Aspet had been standing as though trying to cover him but there was nothing to cover. The king of Tragacanth was utterly gone.

in which Tol and his party discover Hellehoell and a less-than-cordial welcome

At first Tol was not very impressed with the supposed artificial structures in the crevasse. There were a few pillars and some low stonework walls, yes. Nicely done, yes. Worth all this hoo-hah? Not even close. If the titans really wanted this place, Tol’s vote was to give it to them, lock, stock, and barrel. Then they rounded a narrow corner.

There before them was a huge arch, at least twice as tall as the titan. It was framed with intricately carved and polished stone that shone with a mirror finish. There was a gate and portcullis blocking the way, but Tartag walked over to one side and pulled a hidden lever none of the rest of them could have reached without a ladder, much less spotted, whereupon the beautifully carved gates swung open and the portcullis raised effortlessly. Tartag stood in the center of the arch, looking in at the darkness. He turned and addressed them.“Gentles all, welcome to Hellehoell: my ancestral homeland.”

They entered and found themselves on polished marble floors. From a rack near the door Tartag removed a long pole with a torch on the end and set it aflame; as they passed each wall sconce he lit the torch inside. Every torch he added showed more and more of the utterly magnificent interior. After a while it became apparent that they were in a complete underground city, and not a small one. Massive support pillars had been left in the native rock every ten meters or so, with the distant ceiling arched between them.

“This is a magnificent city, Tartag,” Tol said after a while, “You must be very proud of your ancestors for creating such a marvel.”

“Actually, this is probably just one of the outlying communities. If the legends our people tell of Hellehoell are accurate, there are nine cities in total, in a wheel formation with the largest at the center. It took several thousand workers over a centum to carve it all out. ‘Hellehoell’ translates to Goblish roughly as ‘the world beneath the rock.’ Eventually the plan was that all titans on N’plork who wished could live here.”

“That plan was cut short by whatever closed off the entrance, eh?”

“Apparently. The records from that time are confusing and contradictory.They speak of a great enemy who tore off the mountain top and poured it into the Valley of Welcome—Daludobris—which was formerly located on the west side of the complex, supposedly so that invaders who attacked at dawn could not use the rising sun to hide themselves. I’ve searched that area and while I did find evidence of a massive slide that filled in a ravine, I can’t conclusively prove that ravine was Daludobris.”