Chapter 6: Iron Hills

“Fuck!” I said aloud. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

I was still standing in a Ring. However, it wasn’t the same ring that I had been standing inside of, only moments before. I was in another cavern. This cavern also had a disused look similar to the one I had been in, but it was cleaner and better sealed.

I looked up and noticed the crystals were a lot dimmer and there was not as many, as in the other cavern. I had a feeling if I wanted to go home, they would need to be a lot brighter and recharged. I stepped off the Ring and looked around.

There was a slight whiff of sulphur, and I noticed the four raised bung walls around the outer edges of the roundish room. The room was warmer, and I noticed that down inside the bunged areas, was gently moving crusted covered lava.

I had the feeling that the lava was necessary, but I couldn’t immediately deduct why. Going by the thick crust, I suspected it wasn’t as active, as it may once have been.

The crystals hadn’t brightened by much, and I wondered how long they would take to charge back up. It could be days or even weeks, I decided. I started moving around this cavern. I did notice the gravity seemed slightly less than Earth.

This cavern was set up similar to the previous one. I found the sleeping cells and the kitchen. Several of the other rooms, however, were sealed. I placed my hands on the door to one room. I detected a pattern that I was learning to recognise as spells. I closed my eyes, and I let my mind feel the spells.

I didn’t try to do anything to them, just feel. Some words came to me, and I said them aloud. The door made a popping sound and moved back away from me. I felt the air move past me to fill the void of the room. This door spun and turned ninety degrees, so I didn’t have to squeeze past.

When I entered, I noticed a lot of stuff stacked up in different areas of the room. The room wasn’t bright, but there were crystals that provided light. It was a large cavern and going by the condition of the material I picked up, I suspected that one of the spells was a preservation spell that I had read about in my book.

Suddenly, I felt bloody hungry, horny and tired all at the same time. After effects of using magic, I reasoned. I’d felt it several times before when I hadn’t even realised I had used magic. It explained my use of Eca after I’d been caving.

As I walked around the room, I noticed one alcove had been set up with a big bed. It had a side table with what I assumed was a lamp. I touched it, and it lit up. I noticed other lamps on the wall, and I touched a couple of them as well. They too lit up, and I could now see very well.

In the next alcove was a long desk that went from wall to wall. Rows of books lined the bookshelves over the back of the desk, and one was sitting on the blotter with several feather type pens and an inkwell. I popped the cork of the inkwell, and it had liquid in it.

I put it back and then dropped my backpack onto one of the corners of the desk and rummaged around for an energy bar. I unclipping one of my water bottles and took a big swig and then sat in the chair to look at the books while I ate.

This is some of what I read.

Parting message, Mage Davin.

I don’t know if any of what I write will help you, but I’ve done a brief summary of things to date, so someone knows I am still floating around the universe.

In the year of our Lord on Earth 996, I was able to get to the Malay Islands and finally to the cavern in Mt Mulu. If any of our people remain here, they were that inbreed with the locals that I couldn’t feel them.

I found the crystals had grown back sufficiently to power the Ring. Alas, it didn’t send me to Davinia. While this is a lovely world. It isn’t, however, the one I wish to be on. I’ve been here about a hundred years and hopefully helped these people advance a little.

Here too, I found the Keltrian people had difficulties retaining their knowledge of our history and those that made it here had reverted to primitive beings. Like on Earth, they too had many of the Rings stop working here.

I’m beginning to suspect the catastrophe that had been facing my ancestors was the cause of the Rings malfunctioning or exploding here, as on Earth. I doubted that after all this time; I’ll ever learn what happened to them.

I do know they had surveyed hundreds of worlds and even seeded many of them to improve their atmospheres and the types of plants and animals available in the event they had to move. I believe this planet is one of those worlds.

It is interesting that the people regress so far and then start over again. It’s like a strange cycle that we go through. I suspect civilisation as I know it, has been through several cycles here, like on Earth in the last seventy-odd thousand years since the Keltrian’s were forced from their home world.

We seem destined to keep making the same mistakes, yet we kept surviving and trying again. They didn’t appear to get the diversity of races here as they did on Earth. This was possibly a secondary world. Either that or the other races integrated earlier to become only the three distinct races that I believe are here.

I’ve been unable to travel to two of the continents here to determine if this applies to this entire world. I have maps of how I believe this planet is laid out, but I can’t transport myself more than 200 miles in a jump.

The spare crystal ball I found here has been invaluable in drawing the maps. I’ve not been able to get to any of the other Rings on this planet either. There should be at least four more by reckoning. I’ve marked where I believe they are. But they don’t seem to be active, which is why I suspect they blew up.

The people on this continent mostly maintain what we would think of on Earth as Caucasian type races. An Asian type race is to the west and darker-skinned races are found to the east, I believe they resemble the African races on Earth.

My race, the Genteli, have integrated into the other races if they did come here and are no longer a distinct race. I also suspecting the Keltrians that came here may even have come from a different continent or planet from the home world system that my ancestors came from.

They don’t rely on the wizard’s boxes, as I know of them, to develop their magical abilities. They use a sort of do all medallion or a ring they wear on the pointer finger on the right hand. No one here has achieved wizard’s class, as I know it. They are more mages like me at this time.

They call their magical people Druids (they have the medallions), and Novices (they have a ring). I suspect they need someone to claim the Wizard’s Box that is here for them to advance further.

I haven’t found such a person that I believe is strong enough or good enough for this box. Alas, I can’t claim it either as I believe it is a Lord Wizard’s box. I know not what happened to the last person who held it, as I can’t find his book box.

I feel that it’s here, but it eludes me. I don’t know where the rest of the set of boxes for this decad are either. If the other nine boxes are here, they could be on the other four continents. Hopefully, they returned to the treasure rooms located near the other four portals.

When the faeries evicted me from Davinia and sent me back to Earth, I was able to retrieve a mage box that I had found in my travels and left hidden there. I suspect there are a couple more floating around on Earth.

However, I didn’t come across any other mages in my travels to find a Ring to transport me. I felt magic, as I know of it, deserted Earth when we wizards did. Earth was still barbaric when I left and came here. In this incarnation, these people are further advanced than we were but not by as much as I believe they should be.

My mage box is strong enough to keep the madness at bay, but as my strong suits are with manipulation of growing things and energy, I don’t seem to have the skill set required to become a Lord Wizard or the box simply will not accept me due to my past indiscretions.

I didn’t think I was a truly bad wizard, but it’s hard to be good all the time. If a wizard doesn’t look after the people, the box will desert him, as my previous wizard’s box did me. They are less tolerant than mage and novices boxes of the wizard behaving badly.

The medallions they use here seem even laxer in controlling their use, as they are not used just for good here. I suspect this also is not helping the people here advance. Some of the ones I have encountered recently have had a wrongness about them.

They still fight wars here between the races and each other. They even practice slavery. This I have learnt to my detriment is not a good practice for wizards to be involved in.

This world is called Amity, not that I’ve seen a lot of it, as I don’t enjoy travelling by boat much. Plus I wanted to stay near this cavern. I’ve visited the three main continents that have been settled in the northern hemisphere, and each race seems to have segregated to these continents for the most part.

This continent is called Galina and is dominated by the Caucasian races. Orient is to the west and Saran is to the east. There are two vast continents in the southern hemisphere that I know exist but no advanced races are known to live on them.

The local people haven’t advanced very far south, and if people are there, they haven’t come north to my knowledge. There was a spare crystal ball here for some reason, so it’s why I know the other boxes are here, but I’ve never connected to any of them.

The crystal will show you this planet and how its set out. Just ask it. This cavern is located in the Iron Hills region, and I believe the people have lived in this area on and off for many thousands of years.

They are more developed than my culture on Earth at a time when I left to go to Utopia about 600 years ago my timeline. They are currently going through what I’d call a late Iron Age and are entering an early Industrial Age. Some of their techniques I believe can be better, but this is not my area of expertise.

They do have Physic, Energy and Earth druids who are perfecting these arts. Because plants and animals are more my thing, they call me a Nature druid. They also have what they call Psychic and Lore druids. Some people are specialised, other have broader knowledge and abilities.

I have helped them develop more economical land managements, and their diets and basic health have at least improved. Virulent diseases and poor sanitary conditions are still issues that they are having difficulty solving.

They rely heavily on Psychic and Physic druids as they call them, to control outbreaks of plagues. I’ve also noticed the medallions and rings do not extend their life expectancies as long as our mage boxes do.

It is more a factor of three to six times their current average whereas mine is more like ten to twelve times. Here the average citizen only lives about seventy years unless they have shifter genes, so a novice could live for about two centuries and a druid about three to four hundred years.

I’ve not met any Druids that have got beyond two hundred years, as they can still die of disease if not treated and they can be killed by conventional means although not as easily.

They don’t know a lot about building shields of protection. I have been able to teach some of the stronger ones some basic ‘shield’ spells.

Many novices only perfect one major discipline. They must get to certain levels in at least two of the six disciplines to classify as a druid. I have only met three druids who have developed significant control in three disciplines.

They did have a school of sorts at the time I left. Depending on how much time has passed since I left and you arrived, the school may still be in existence in Trenton or not. You may not be able to use relative years in your time frame to guide you.

I have noticed that sometimes the Ring sends you to different periods in time. I have actually been tossed back to Earth to several periods in time and not in order when we were trying to get the Ring in Wales working, hence the date above if you come from my future.

How the Rings work I don’t know, Gold Wizard Rah of my past decad, had that knowledge but never told me. I have determined if you don’t find yourself returning from whence you came inside nine Earth weeks then you are stuck until you can get them to send you somewhere else.

It has taken me ninety-seven of the years here to get them to work for me. If I’m not here when you come, and there are no more entries in this book. I feel that they will work for me this time, as I can’t seem to do any more for the people here to atone for my sins.

I have property in Iron Hill. I hired a Broker, a Novice Ben Greyson to look after my property while I was away. If you give him or his replacement the token from the document folder and produce the documents, they will know you are my heir and that I will not be back, hopefully.

I’ve left several boxes of coins and jewellery that should get you by if you arrive here a long time after I left. It was worth a fair bit in local currency when I left. Inflation wasn’t a big issue here, but they use a more Earth type monetary system than Davinia.

Interestingly they use the same coin denominations and even speak a language that is very similar to the old Genteli language. I suspect this has been influenced by wizards over time.

Be a good wizard and look after the people better than I did.

Mage Davin.

I sat back and thought about what he had written.

So I could be here less than nine weeks (six weeks local time) or a bloody long time. I thought about what I’d left behind. I’d liked my job, but I probably could have done more. If I stayed here, I’d never get to see my four kids.

I knew Eca was pregnant when I left, so I hoped she was happy and wouldn’t miss me too much. I hoped she loves my son. At least Taib was dead, and he wouldn’t be bothering her anymore. I wasn’t sad about that fact.