Chapter 34

The walls began to change as ribs of cut stone protruded from the sides and the ceiling. Danel speculated that they were probably nearing the exterior wall of the Library of Ibados and these ribs helped to spread the weight of the walls through secondary structures. The ribs were fitted and straight, but the surface of the stone was not polished as he would expect upstairs. In truth, he thought that the structure he was eyeballing was even more skillfully executed than the grand halls upstairs. He shuddered as he considered all the considerable weight overhead.

“We are near the border of the building,” Jabali declared. “These extra structures that stick out mark the boundary. As soon as we reach the outer edge, we will disembark.”

They continued onward without talking. The only sound was the pole, dipping in and out of the water as Omari continued to push the boat forward. Danel counted the final ribbing as a round opening appeared from which light was pouring.

The boat gently bumped up against the line of stone that marked the end of the canal. On either side of canal, embossed into the stone itself was a mark: ꂦ from an alphabet Danel knew belonged to one of the southern peoples, but not much more. “This is personal seal of Master Ibados,” Jabali explained, pointing to where Danel was already staring. “His original tongue was Yi Bati. However, his native tongue was not conducive to architecture or engineering. Now, everyone, even you, speak Yallu as Ibados prophesied.”

Danel turned his attention to the space that appeared monstrously huge. Without regard for instruction or safety, he scrambled out of the boat to stand on the lip of stone that separated the canal from the great expanse of whitish-gray walls, completely seamless. The roof far above was cloaked in shadows. Columns, thick and round, rose from the floor and rose to the ceiling, two lines of columns. The floor was wet. Puddles of heavy water that had reached over the lip were scattered across the nearby floor.

“What is this material?” Janner asked, probing the floor with his sword. “It is hard like rock, but it’s the color of mortar.”

“Concrete,” Jabali answered. “The material begins with cement that is commonly used as mortar or grout, but this material has much more added to it. Only the treasury of a god or many gods could pay the exorbitant sums this amount of concrete costs.”

“Where are we?” Danel asked. “What is this place?”

“We are outside the walls of the Library of Ibados in the outer shell of the house of the mad god,” Jabali said. “The inner shell is that way,” he pointed down the line of columns, “so the writings say.”

“You don’t know? You’ve never been there?” Rahim asked, unable to keep the confusion out of his questions.

“We are Talurie and we are bound to the Library of Ibados, our Master. We cannot cross the threshold.” Omari answered in sensorial tones. “Only you can cross.”

“Your holy task is that way,” Jabali said, pointing again down the length of the columns. “We will wait for you here. Look to my right, and you will see another room, similar to the one we stopped at midway. We will wait for you.”

The two Talurie turned and left, disappearing through the doorway and up the stairs.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Rahim commented.

“Better to have a team you can trust,” Janner said. “They say much, but as they have demonstrated, they have also left out a good deal of information.”

“Yeah,” Danel nodded in agreement. “Information, huh? Somewhere in those archives is the description and use of this place. We have no access, and we have no time. Nothing, and I mean nothing was delivered upstairs to be archived for use now. The gods knew this day would come; they must have known. Yet, we have only our wits to help us. Let us pray that Master Ibados left instructions we can read.”

The lights dimmed slightly, wavered, and then returned to their initial brightness.

“Machafuko calls,” Rahim said, pointing. “Let us not keep him waiting.”

“I frickin’ hate gods,” Janner said, stepping down to the concrete. “Yeah, I know, but the gods up there aren’t going to strike me down here. What am I going to do with this sword? Poke a mad god? Hardly.”

“Eyes, ears, strategy,” Danel said, ticking off three fingers. “You’ve been in battle. It’s time to shift into that mindset. Do we head straight up the middle or come around one of the sides?”

“If it’s a god, we can go straight up because the god already knows,” Janner said. “Follow me.”

Danel had watched men set out to defend a border or a watering hole with determination written across their faces, but there was something terrifying about Janner’s visage. He followed without a word. Rahim fell in behind him.

As they passed the first set of columns, Danel looked back at the entrance. The entrance was a circle with the bottom covered with a straight lip of stone that demarcated the canal and chamber. The back of the first columns had markings on them, horizontal lines at equal intervals going all the way up into the shadows. He had no idea what they meant. Each column was wide enough for twelve or more men at least, touching fingertips to fingertips.

They marched onward past eight columns and then two more. At the tenth set of columns, Danel saw that there was something ahead. They slowed their pace as they traversed the length of the last two columns. They ascended a ramp to a new room.

The walls were covered with massive cables, but they were not hawsers or ropes such as those found on catapults. These were copper cables covered in a black material that looked like pitch but reflected the light. The cables dove into the wall at circular junctures and disappeared. Great bands of metal held the cables against the walls. Blue spates of lightning danced in the spaces between the groupings of cables. Danel looked up, reflexively ducking at the blue lightning spikes that cascaded across the ceiling. Boxes of metal, spheres and blocks of unknown material were suspended above their heads.

The lights shone brighter than anywhere else in the Library of Ibados, and they shone from tubes laid in horizontal lines at the top of the walls and at various places on the ceiling. Danel shielded his eyes from the glare.

Immediately ahead of them was a black sphere, whose blackness was unlike any object Danel had ever seen. The skin of the sphere sucked up light and reflected nothing. The orb appeared to float in space at first glance, but the longer Danel stared, the more detail slowly emerged. Larger than the cables on the wall, were the cables that were attached to the bottom of the sphere that disappeared into the floor. Taking a few tentative steps closer revealed two great channels under the sphere that took the cables to the walls.

On the floor surrounding the sphere were three circles that appeared to be painted. Danel was not sure that painted was the correct word, but there were no words to describe most of what he was viewing. The inner circle was red, the middle one was yellow, and the outer one was green. Outside of the green circle were two square pillars that only rose to the height of two men. Looking to his immediate right, Danel saw a zigzag staircase with metal rails on the side wall that rose towards the ceiling. On the other side was another identical set of stairs.

Danel stood still with his hands on his hips, unsure of what he should do next. The other two were still gawking at the features throughout the rooms. There was no doubt they would approach closer to the sphere.

“Janner,” Danel called over to the man. “Draw your sword. If the god grabs me or takes possession of me, run me through. Do not let the god take me. Do you understand?”

Janner nodded, remaining silent. He drew his sword and took a stance of readiness.

“Rahim, this is what we came to find. Shall we?”

“I think we can cross to the green,” Rahim answered. “Green is the color of blessing and life.”

The two of them walked carefully to the band of green. With a deep breath to fortify himself, Danel stepped on the color. Rahim followed, standing at his left shoulder.

“WELCOME,” a voice cried out from the sphere. “The lights wavered in the room for a moment. “Finally, devotees have come to keep me company. Come closer that I may see you.”