The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) (12 page)

“Would that work in a river?”

“Could you get us some volcanic ash?”

“Volcanic ash?”

Steve nodded. “I’m not sure what they use here, but both the Greeks and Romans added volcanic ash to their concrete mixture to make it stronger, especially in water.”

“Volcanic ash I could come up with, but how do we make concrete? All I know about it is it comes in a big truck and gets dumped out on the ground. Not exactly useful to Lynda.”

Steve laughed. “It’s not hard to make, but I’m sure they already have something that will work. Why don’t we ask someone from the grounds crew where they get it?”

“Because it’s probably one of those things we’re supposed to already know.”

“Okay. Let me talk to Laryn and see what she says. I’ll get back to you this afternoon.”

Kevin nodded. “And could you draw a picture of the wedges you’re talking about? I can’t explain any of this, but I can show her a drawing.”

Steve nodded. “Sure, no problem.”

~ ~ ~ ~

After Kevin explained Steve’s ideas to Chris, he asked if Karl had had any ideas.

“He suggested raising the bridge and putting large supports near the bank and more narrow ones in the middle,” Chris answered. “So, what should we tell her?”

“Let’s give her both suggestions and let her decide what she wants to try, but I’m not going to do anything until Steve gets back to me about the wedges.”

A knock on the door interrupted them. When Chris opened it, Laryn came in and shut the door behind her. “Any particular reason you didn’t ask me about your bridge problem?” she asked as she sat down.

Kevin shook his head. “To be honest, I didn’t think about it.”

“Because I’m not a sorcerer?”

As Kevin nodded he felt his face heat up with embarrassment, but he wasn’t sure why. “Did Steve tell you what he suggested?”

Laryn nodded. “And I think his idea might work, but before you have a young sorcerer try it, you might want to discuss it with a more experienced sorcerer.”

“Anyone in particular?” Kevin asked, frowning. He’d considered talking to Warren about it, but he had a feeling she had someone else in mind.

“Badec’s first choice was always Shadron,” Laryn answered. “But you could go to any of them. They’d all be happy to help out. Or you could get all of them together and let them tackle it as a group, but if you go that route, you’ll get a lot more information than you need and it’ll be a day-long event, which is why Badec usually worked with one at a time, and he always started with Shadron.”

“But I don’t know him.”

“That’s not exactly true,” Chris said. “You met all of them at your father’s funeral.”

“Met them. Didn’t get to know them,” Kevin pointed out. “Laryn, if I met Shadron on the street, I wouldn’t recognize him, and I doubt he’d recognize me.”

“You might not recognize him, but every one of them would recognize you, but I understand what you’re saying,” Laryn said. “Which is why it’s so important for you to get to know them. And since I’ve already made arrangements for you to have lunch with Shadron Saturday, you can talk to him about the bridge then. In fact, the two of you could go to Zander, look at the bridge that’s causing problems, and help her fix it. Why don’t you let her know to expect you Saturday afternoon?”

“What? I can’t do that,” Kevin said. “That would be rude.”

“How?”

“This is your visit, to let Shadron get to know Steve. And besides, you need to know someone before you ask them to help you out. I don’t know him at all.”

“This is how you get to know him,” Laryn said. “Look, I know my brother. He’ll want to meet Steve, but he’d rather be off solving a problem somewhere than listening to me and Kayla talk about the wedding. It’ll be all Steve can do to sit there. He’d probably rather go with the two of you. Now that’s an idea. He can go with you. That would be perfect.”

“Steve’s never traveled through the energy field before,” Kevin said slowly. “Won’t it embarrass him if it makes him sick?”

Laryn shrugged. “He’ll go through it when we go to Kyle’s Wednesday, and then again when we go to Shadron’s. If it hits him too hard, he can stay with me at Shadron’s. Let’s see what he says after he’s been through it a couple of times.”

There had been some banging going on the whole time they’d been talking, but now it seemed louder.

“What
is
that?” Kevin asked, looking over at Chris. “Is someone building something in our reception area?”

“I don’t know,” Chris answered as he got up and opened the door.

Alek was standing on the other side of the door with his hand up ready to knock. Chris stepped back and motioned him in.

“What’s going on out there?” Kevin asked.

Alek frowned and then asked, “The hammering?”

Kevin nodded.

“Cpt. Darrell is working on something outside. He called it a playground. He’s making a big box right now, and he asked me to ask you to go get a couple of barrels of sand. I think he plans to put the sand in the box, but I’m not sure how as it doesn’t have a bottom.”

Kevin grinned. “I think I know what he’s making. I’ll go get him some sand.”

“Good,” Alek said, relieved. “He said you don’t have to go today if you don’t have time. Tomorrow morning will be soon enough.”

“This afternoon isn’t as full as tomorrow morning,” Chris said quietly.

“In that case, I’ll have one of the pages deliver the message to Cpt. Darrell.” Alek looked at Kevin. “I’m not sure how it happened, but apparently neither Rigel nor I were available when you went to Ashmont this morning. I’d hate for that to happen again so I’ll be right outside the door.”

“Thank you, Alek.”

Alek pulled the door to as he stepped outside.

“I think he’s upset with you,” Chris said.

“You shouldn’t duck out on your bodyguards,” Laryn said. “If something happens to you when they aren’t with you, everyone will see it as their fault.”

“So it would be better for me to get hurt or killed with one of them with me?” Kevin asked, only half kidding.

Laryn nodded. “Yes, as far as their sense of duty is concerned. If someone hurts you while one of them is with you, they’ll second guess what they could have done differently to prevent it, and I’m sure the other guards will pick apart what they did or didn’t do, but at least you weren’t alone. No one can say you got hurt because they neglected their duty. That’s their nightmare.”

Chris cleared his throat. “I’ll let Lynda know you’ll be there sometime Saturday afternoon to look at the bridge and offer suggestions, okay?”

Kevin nodded as he stood up. “And I guess Alek and I need to go get some sand.”

~ ~ ~ ~

While Kevin was filling two barrels with sand, Landis was trying to fill a ball that existed only in her mind with energy she could neither see nor touch, and she was getting very frustrated.

“This whole thing is ridiculous,” Landis mumbled as she shook her arms and shuffled her feet. She felt like she’d been standing in one spot for days instead of hours. “There’s got to be a catch to this, some trick, and I need to know what it is. I bet Glendymere knows.”

“I’m sure if there was something that would make this easier, he’d have told you this morning. It’s probably one of those things sorcerers have to figure out for themselves, but once you do, it’ll become easier.” Rhianna stood up and stretched. “You’re drawing magical energy up into your body a lot better today than you did Saturday. That’s something at least.”

“If you say so,” Landis growled, shaking her head as she raked her fingers through her hair.

“Let’s go outside and walk around a bit, get some fresh air.”

“I’m all for anything that gets me out of this room.”

As they walked through the cave towards the entrance, Landis said her head was hurting.

Rhianna nodded. “Probably from concentrating so hard. We might need to take a few more breaks.”

Glendymere was standing outside the cave entrance.
“Taking more breaks is a good idea. That’s one of the things Chris insisted on with Myron.”
He thought for a moment and then added,
“I’ll get Myron to bring Chris Sunday morning. The two of you can talk while Myron and I work on his reflexes. Chris might have some suggestions about ways you can help Landis.”

Rhianna glanced over at her friend. “I’ll take all the help I can get, and the sooner, the better.”

Glendymere’s chuckle sounded like rumbling thunder.
“After your headache eases off, Landis, come back inside. I’ll tune into your mind and see how you’re coming with filling your ball with energy.”

“I can tell you exactly how I’m coming,” Landis snapped. “I’m not. I’m not sure I even have a ball, much less any energy in it.”

Glendymere nodded at Rhianna.
“She definitely needs more breaks. See you both back inside.”
He walked into the cave and down the hall towards his sleeping chamber.

“Great. Now he can see for himself how hopeless I am,” Landis said as she walked around, swinging her arms.

“Didn’t you say you wanted him to tell you how to do this? Sounds like that’s what he has in mind. You should be pleased.”

“No, I said he should have told me how to do it to start with.”

“Whatever you say. I’m done arguing with you. Let me know when your headache’s better so we can get back to work.”

Landis walked along the bank of the stream that ran through the canyon. She followed it all the way to the end, where it went underground to feed the larger stream that would eventually surface and flow into the Pooley River. She watched the water swirl and swish as it rushed into the ground, almost as if it were laughing. A small part of her wished she could join in the fun and ride all the way to the Agrenon Bay. A larger part wished she could hitch a ride with the hawk flying overhead and go back to Crinsor Run.

Unfortunately, for the foreseeable future, she was stuck here, in this canyon, or more precisely, in that little room off Glendymere’s sleeping chamber.

Landis turned around and walked back to the front of the cave entrance where Rhianna was waiting. “Guess we might as well get this over with,” Landis said as she passed by Rhianna on her way into the cave.

“How’s your head?” Rhianna asked as she hurried to catch up.

“Still hurts, but not quite as bad as earlier.”

“We could wait a little longer if it would help.”

“No,” Landis said as she turned into the hallway that led to Glendymere’s sleeping chamber. “I’m ready to be done for today. I’m going to run through this one more time for Glendymere and that’s it.”

Rhianna didn’t bother to argue with her. If Glendymere wanted her to keep at it, he could be the one to say so.

As soon as Landis was in their room, she shook her head, planted her feet, closed her eyes, and began drawing energy into her body. She tried to picture a ball in her mind, but she couldn’t get it to take on a well-defined form. It was hazy, blurred around the edges, and the energy that went in leaked out and drifted away.

After several minutes of watching her struggle, Glendymere said,
“All right. You can stop now. I see the problem. You’re connecting with the energy in the ground a lot better today than you did last week, and you’ve got enough control to pour it into the ball. The problem’s your ball. It needs some work, and I can help you with that. but not today. You’re right. You’re tired and need a break. I’ve arranged to have Jonquin spar with Myron tomorrow, so I won’t be here in the morning, but you can practice pulling the energy into your body until I get back. Then we’ll work on that ball.”

Rhianna frowned. “Is Jonquin another sorcerer?”

“He’s a dragon.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Landis asked.

“Myron knows what to expect. They’ve sparred before. He’ll be fine as long as he keeps his mind on what he’s doing.”

For a moment, Landis and Rhianna just looked at each other, then Landis opened her mouth, shook her head and closed it, opened it again, and looked at Glendymere.

Glendymere’s head tilted as he watched her.
“Is there a problem?”

“Yes, no, I mean, not a problem, but …” Landis sputtered.

Glendymere’s eyebrows drew closer together as he watched her struggle with what she wanted to say. Finally he peeked into her mind.
“You want to watch the match.”

Landis nodded. “I want to see how this stuff works. I have no idea what magic is like. I’ve never seen any as far as I know.”

Glendymere glanced over at Rhianna. Her eyes were sparkling and a smile was trying to escape her pursed lips.
“You, too?”

Rhianna nodded quickly.

“I’m not sure how Myron will feel about it, but all right,”
Glendymere said.
“Be down here ready to go by 9:00.”

Chapter 9

Back to Ashmont

Rigel was waiting in the office when Kevin and Chris got back from dinner. Kevin took out his key and looked at Chris. “This shouldn’t take long. All I need to do is speak with Marcus for a few minutes and then we can come home. Is there anything else we need to take care of today?”

Chris shook his head. “But you’ve got to be in Glenarbour by 5:30 tomorrow morning.”

Kevin grimaced. “I know.”

“I’ll be here by 5:15,” Rigel said.

“I don’t think either of you need to go, but maybe Alek should go since Janine already knows him.”

Rigel frowned. “If that’s what you prefer. I’ll let him know.”

Kevin shook his head. “Janine’s difficult enough when she knows everyone, and I’m already taking two people she doesn’t know. The day may come when you have to meet her, but I wouldn’t rush it if I were you.” Kevin held out his arm. “Are you ready to go?”

Rigel put his hand on Kevin’s arm.

“See you in a bit,” Kevin said to Chris as he turned the key.

A few seconds later, they were on the path that led to Lt. Martyn’s house. When they got there, Kevin knocked on the door. A couple of minutes later, a very sleepy Brandon opened it.