Chapter 23

“What is this place?” Ezza said as he surveyed the long room. “Something liquid burnt through that table there and continued to eat into the floor. Whatever that was,” he said, pointing to the opposite wall, it died a long time ago.” The animal skeleton was a collection of bones in the bottom of a swinging cage.

“Don’t touch anything,” Aden said, unable to keep the awe out of his voice. “Everything here is ... beyond my imagination. Do you see those racks of bottles divided by acids and bases? They have a containment sphere, a point welder and, by the gods, would you believe a foment generator with molds. Everything the world needs is in this room and there is no place else on the planet like this laboratory. We’re doomed.”

“He’s going all wizard-crazy again, doing the fancy words/stupid talk,” Qasi said. “Any fool can see that these tables are a bunch of workshop stations. The one with a hole works with harsh chemicals like a tannery. This one butchers animals. The next one works with metals; in fact, the next two workplaces are for metals. I think that far one on the left does wizard-crazy crap like our wizard does because it looks like he torched the place a time or three. I understand this stuff just fine.”

“Except that those harsh chemicals burn through wood, metal and ceramic,” Aden said. “Your butcher seems to build the creatures you assume he slaughters. I’ll give you the guy at the end because, damn the consequences.”

“Both of you, shut it,” Ezza said. “Aden is right – this room is special, but we have a task. As you can see, all these wizards left in a hurry. They didn’t clean up like the upstairs rooms and they left a lot of dangerous material out, unsecured. Does that sound like disciplined soldiers to you?

“Stand where you are and assess the room.” Ezza stood with his hands on his hips. “The lights were left on and there are open books on the cabinets around each workstation. They were all keeping tallies like a quartermaster would.”

“They were writing notes and observations like a wizard-scientist or a wizard-engineer would,” Aden said. “This was a room of research.” He twisted around to look without moving his feet from where he had planted them. “Kings use their treasuries and deplete them to pay for such places. They must have been rich beyond compare and politically powerful to keep it all first, and to keep it secret second. They were masters of the world with generations of researchers to access, making them the most powerful people on the planet. At one time, this room must have been the center of the wizards’ universe. Do you doubt that the jeweled sword was designed and built here? Look halfway down on the right – a door to a forge and probably an anvil hidden behind that half wall. The molds next to the vise probably fit the jewels in the pommel. It’s all here and it is ours, and we have no clue of how to use it.”

“They’re dead though,” Qasi said. “How did they die if they had all this?”

No one answered for a long time. Aden took a step in one direction, only to have another object catch his attention in another direction. “Everything is here but too much is here, if that makes sense. What were they doing and what caused them to stop? Why?”

“We can ask the dead king in the harbor,” Ezza said. He dropped his hands and began to walk slowly down the center of the room towards the back. He raised one of his hands carefully to point to an object he recognized as he stepped deliberately.

“Drinking glass,” he said.

“Beaker,” Aden said, shaking his head.

“Keen, thin dagger.”

“Scalpel,” Aden said. “It’s used to cut open bodies with a clean slice that can be knitted back together.”

“Lovely,” Qasi said. “I always wanted to wander through a torture chamber.”

“Not everything is about torture,” Aden said. “Scalpels are used to repair internal damage in a body; they’re used to save people. If you want to torture someone, you use a dull knife.”

“Worth a governor’s ransom,” Ezza said, shaking his head, as if he had a difficult time believing his eyes. “When you keep squawking about all the knowledge that has been lost, you mean things like this knife, don’t you? I’ve visited the medic’s tent a few times and I’ve never seen a blade like that one.”

Aden sighed and then pinched his cheeks. “I know I’ve been carping and singing my complaint like an out-of-tune instrument but, yeah. The scalpel is so sharp it makes for a speedy surgery, reduces the chance for infection, and does less damage to healthy tissue. There is not a general who wouldn’t want one for his men. Sorry.”

“The knife was meant to be an everyday item for a doctor, right?” Ezza said. “He could reach in his kit and grab it, knowing it would be there.”

“Yes,” Aden said. Ezza’s insight, too many weeks late, dampened his excitement. He shook off the descending gloom with a shudder that started at his shoulders and carried down to his knees. “We need to find answers. There is another door on the back wall behind the half wall.”

“Storeroom,” Ezza said.

The door was not reinforced like the one behind them and it was lacking a lintel to frame it. The outline of the door was clear as was the latch, but the door appeared to be made of the same material as the rest of the wall. To Aden, the door was cut out of the same stone or ceramic as the wall. He had the urge to run up and wipe his fingers across it.

“Armory,” Qasi said. “Ten chits if I’m wrong.”

Aden glanced at the man and then back at the door. The suggestion made sense, but everything else in the building had proven to be less than helpful. He did not need an armory.

“I’d be happy with an instruction manual,” Aden said. Both men gave him a dirty look to which he responded by rolling his eyes. “I’m the guy that has to swing the weapon. You would think these wizard researchers would write down the instructions. They seemingly recorded everything else.”

“What’s the difference between reading about sailing a boat and sailing a boat?” Ezza said. He was touching the back end of the scalpel with his finger.

“Everything,” Aden said. “Reading about doing an action is not the same as attempting to do the action ... oh. There is no reason to write it down because you need to learn by doing. The wise, old sergeant knows better than the clever wizard, who should be chastened and understand his position in this little foray. Remember this, my dear traveling companion, I can already list two dozen ways you can die in this room if you don’t know what you are handling. Blood poisoning from a nick of an unclean scalpel is the start of the next dozen.

“Leave the blade on the table, Ezza. We will have to find a container to protect you from the edge before you can safely move it. Then you must sterilize it in boiling water for a few minutes. Gifts come later though. Since you are in the lead, why don’t you escort us to that door?”

Aden made sure he stepped in Ezza’s footsteps on the dirty floor. Knowing that some nasty chemicals had spilled was enough to unnerve the wizard and he was disciplined enough to admit he needed to follow, even though it hurt to admit it.

Aden eased past the half wall. The anvil was sitting on a stand as he predicted, along with tools and a peculiar set of openings above, below and in the full and half walls. He pointed at the wall unable to form the words of his question.