Echoes of Time- The Clockmaster's Shroud Read online

  “How can we trust what you’re saying?” Braei asked.

  “I have been asked that before. Know me as the Clockmaster and know that not all know that others have worked in my image for nefarious purposes. I attempt to right what I allowed to be led astray. You are the Guardian of the Seas, Valrin,” he said, now staring at Valrin alone. “The gods of the North know my purpose and trust this task to you and your crew.”

  The man shifted back to that of an orb, and in a flash, the temple was dark. Valrin turned to the others, and suddenly, they were back aboard the Aela Sunrise and adrift.

  “What?” Ordak asked.

  Valrin went to the helm, shifting the vessel to the right.

  “East?” Braei asked.

  “Well, before we ended up here, we were headed north. I can’t tell which way we’re oriented right now, and the maps do not function. We’ll head this way and see what happens.” Evurn went to the rear of the ship where the many crystals that powered it seemed to all elevate for a moment. There was a silver device with gears and cogs. A center portion of it was made of pure crystal.

  “Captain, it seems he did put . . . something . . . on the ship.”

  Ordak snorted. “Did anyone else see what happened? Did you not see that we were in a temple and now we’re here?”

  “It happens,” Braei said. “Lots of strange things happen to us.”

  Evurn laughed. “It is okay, my friend. In time, you’ll get used to such happenings.”

  Ordak shook his head and looked up at the sky. “What about that?”

  They looked up to see the sky was becoming dark.

  “Activate the device,” Valrin ordered.

  Evurn did so, and they were upon the Glacial Seas once again. The sudden frigid cold was stark but not too unexpected. They were no longer near Aieclo, and wherever they were, it did not look familiar considering there was nothing around them.

  Valrin attempted to bring up the map once again. This time, the image of the Glacial Seas appeared.

  “Where are we?” Evurn asked.

  “East, far east. There is ocean around us, but it seems that there is nothing showing up. I do not even see that we are upon ocean, yet we are. Are those mountains on the map?”

  While normally the map of the Aela Sunrise would show the actual ocean and clouds as one would expect as if flying high above them, this time, they looked as what a bird would see upon land.

  “We are most definitely upon the ocean,” Ordak said.

  “Then where do we go?” Braei asked.

  “East, until a tower. Perhaps this will all make sense in time.”

  Their journey continued without any trouble. Braei showed Ordak where their stores were and made some tea for each of them. Evurn poured over the guides to the Aela Sunrise but could not find anything referencing the Clockmaster. At this moment, Valrin realized he had not slept in some time.

  “You’re just now realizing that? I expected you to sleep in Saelmark. You were lying down,” Braei said.

  “Yes, but I could not rest. I closed my eyes, thought of the ocean, but no real sleep.”

  “No sleep?” Ordak asked.

  “He only sleeps when the ship is at dock and I guess,” Evurn said, closing the book he was reading, “when he feels safe. I can only imagine that it was because the ship’s energy was restored at Saelmark that you were restored as well.”

  “The power of the Stormborn,” Braei said.

  Ordak laughed, chugging the hot tea. “Weird friends, Evurn.”

  Valrin laughed. “We are a bit strange.”

  The sun had fallen from the point it was when they’d first emerged upon the Glacial Seas again, and now a near-dark sky was before them. The stars were shining already, and in the distance, they could see a lonely mountain, a lone peak, surrounded by water. Valrin looked at the map, and it seemed they were upon a lake with a circle of mountains around it, the largest of the mountains directly in front of them, but he saw no other mountains.

  “This is odd,” Braei said.

  “Well, the old world was flooded,” Valrin said, “but the maps of the ship do not seem to know this region, or perhaps, they were older? I really do not know.”

  They came to the shadow of the mountain as the moon rose in the far east.

  In the darkness of the mountain, they could see a skeleton of a structure.

  “The tower,” Valrin said. “The Clockmaster was correct.”

  “Then I’ll activate the device,” Evurn said. “He knew much of us. Let us hope we truly are on the path we are to take.”

  Valrin nodded.

  Evurn exhaled and pushed the crystal. The world around them fell away, and this time, they saw the image of the sun and the moon, but for a much longer period. After several cycles, the Aela Sunrise tossed in the water before them, and Valrin was forced against the helm of the ship. The others were thrown about, but as the ship steadied in the waters, Valrin looked to the waters beside them and could see pristine clear waters and white stones in the depths below.

  He looked around them, seeing a crown of green mountains, and unlike the place before, he could smell sweet herbs in the air. The mountain before them seemed to have grown substantially in size. The tower, only a fragment before, was now a white-and-silver helm that rose high upon the mountain. Beneath it, wrapping up the mountain itself, were silver walls and glowing crystals that glimmered in the sunlight.

  “Where are we?” Braei asked.

  Evurn stood with mouth agape. “Surely not?”

  “What?”

  “This place, this is—the past.”

  “What?” Ordak questioned.

  “This is . . . this is exactly as writings I have come across. This is a true Dwemhar city. We have gone into the past."

  Part Two: Clocks

  Valrin did not know what to think of what was before him. There were other ships, almost like his own, but without the crystals his had.

  “Shift the ship to mimic the others,” Evurn said. “Do as you do to make it like a simple vessel. Perhaps, that power will mimic these. We do not need to stand out.”

  “Stand out?” Ordak said. “I’m a half-orc!”

  Braei tossed Ordak a cloak. “Hide yourself, then.”

  “If these are Dwemhar, we cannot hide,” Valrin said. “Aeveam could see into our minds, and she is only half.”

  “The Clockmaster must have known this,” Braei said. “He would not have sent us somewhere we could not be successful. He has told the truth so far.”

  “It’s been less than a day,” Evurn said. “But we must be mindful of our thoughts. There are many strange vessels here. The map shows this is a lake, but perhaps there are peoples of other races to whom we will not seem so odd.”

  They came to the dock, and while there was a figure noting the ship’s arrival, he did not speak to them.

  Valrin noticed the Aela Sunrise locked into place just as before at the other Dwemhar docks, but nothing else happened.

  Valrin and the others disembarked, but as they looked back to the Aela Sunrise, they noticed that aside from it looking like the other vessels, it seemed to have its own crew. In fact, no one noticed them at all. Though they walked around them as if there were someone there, they did not seem to actually see them.

  “Come,” Evurn said.

  They proceeded in a single-file line, walking past several figures busy loading boxes onto another ship, and at least two fishers sitting on rocks beside the docks.

  Valrin noticed that these people all seemed to be wearing white robes with gold sashes. Several also had head garments with jewels across their foreheads. They came up to the gateway and to two figures who seemed to be guards of some kind. They each had swords with jeweled hilts at their hips, but their eyes were covered. Instead, they had an emblem of an eye on their chests.

  Valrin could feel them looking at him, though he did not look at them. They passed unhindered through the gates.

  The city was vibrant with l
ife and many herbs and flowers growing everywhere. Beside the nearest road ran a canal with the purest of streams and no sign of algae or grime along the water’s edge. Center posts ran on either side of the roads, with small crystals suspended above the posts, but other than that, there were no other crystals. Looking far ahead, they saw that the road reached upward above the city and into the high mountains. It was here the road connected to the tower that rose off the mountains.

  “A blue structure,” Braei said, pointing.

  The Clockmaster had told them to look for a blue structure, and indeed, they found one, but it was small and just out of sight. In fact, he was surprised Braei had seen it tucked beside a larger building that seemed to be some type of workshop.

  “Let’s go,” Valrin said.

  He led them further in, noticing that there were several of the guards like the ones from the gate staring at them from afar.

  Evurn tapped his staff, and Rasi emerged from his robes.

  “Go see what you can find,” he told the snake. Rasi slithered off and vanished.

  Valrin led them to the blue house, and they knocked and then waited. Nothing.

  They knocked again, and then Ordak slammed his fist in a rather boisterous knock.

  “Ordak! That’s a bit much!” Braei said.

  “Maybe they’re sleeping.” He smiled.

  They could hear someone on the other side, and then the sounds of several latches and locks. The door opened, and a man stared at them, but the man had a strange device on his head and many lenses that stacked in a long cone in front of one of his eyes.

  He flipped the lenses up. “Oh, dear. No, no, no.”

  He slammed the door closed.

  Valrin was about to knock again, when it opened back up.

  The man looked as if he had seen a ghost, his eyes wide and his face white. “Oh, get in, get in,” he commanded.

  “We come from far—” Ordak began.

  “Shut up, you oaf. Get in. I know what this is.”

  Valrin and the others entered the residence and immediately were forced up a flight of stairs, pushed away from the room on the lower level. The man followed them after locking back the front door, closing another door on the second level.

  Valrin looked around the room they had been forced into and saw a plethora of drawings and broken metal objects. A floating crystal that was split apart hovered in the room. A massive window on one side of the room gave sight of the lake where they had arrived, but this, too, was covered, as the man hit a switch and a covering dropped over the window.

  The man sat down in a chair and began to rock back and forth. “Great, just great. I knew this would happen.”

  “You knew what?” Valrin asked.

  “You, you’re not from here. You look like you’re from here, but I can see more. I can see the dust on your shoulders. You’ve come through time. I’ve done it once or ten times, but you’ve done it and you’re here. Why would I do this?”

  “Do what?” Evurn asked.

  “Oh, I always messed this stuff up in the future.”

  “Always? How many times have you done this?”

  “I don’t know, I don’t know, but if you’re here, I messed something up. I did, I did, I didn’t, I didn’t.”

  The man began screaming, and Evurn smacked him with his staff.

  “We followed the Clockmaster’s wishes. We went east, found a tower, and activated the device placed on our ship, and we’re here.”

  “Ship? The flying ones or the sailing ones?”

  “The sailing,” Valrin said.

  “So, the realm ships work? And the flying vessels with crystals in their center?”

  “I have seen drawings from a long time ago,” Evurn said, “but there are no more in our time.”

  “Where are we? Where are the Dwemhar?”

  “They ascended from the living realm,” Valrin said.

  “Ascended? Truly! We were successful! So why? Why are you here?”

  “We don’t know,” Valrin said. “Our friend is trapped upon Aieclo. She is being turned into something beyond herself.”

  “A great evil,” Evurn said.

  “Aieclo? What is this Aieclo?”

  “An ancient Dwemhar city,” Evurn said. “You do not know of it? It floats above the ocean, or so the stories said.”

  “Levitation! It works? How?”

  “We don’t know!” Ordak shouted.

  “What kind of monstrosity are you? Not of the pure races.”

  Ordak drew his blade, and Braei put her hand up, sparking fire.

  “RUSIS!” the man shouted.

  He ran for the door, pulling open the latches, when Evurn and Ordak both grabbed him.

  “She’s going to kill me! She’s going to kill me.”

  “No, she isn’t!” Valrin said firmly. “You need to help us. We were told to come here. Go to a blue house. Where we come from, Aieclo has awakened. We came to you for help, and now you must help us.”

  The man was breathing fast but worked to slow his own breathing. “Okay, okay, it’s just, you’re from the future! You got sent to the past, which means I was successful! The Dwemhar ascended, but I did not, which is confusing, but anyway. I don’t know, I don’t know,” he repeated. “What can I do to help you?”

  “We need to put out the city of Aieclo. We need to shut it down.”

  “You need a dispel of some kind!” The man stood up, jumping for a small pearl on a nearby desk. He picked up a magnifying glass and opened the covering on the window, allowing a small bit of light into the room. He then focused the light through the magnifying glass into a beam that he placed on the pearl. From the pearl, the light bent around the substance and hit the crystal hovering in the room.

  “I use this to deactivate the crystal . . . and”—he held it steady for a few moments, and the crystal slowly fell to the ground and rested on its side—“it works just fine.”

  “That is a small crystal and a small pearl,” Ordak said.

  “Is this truly why you were sent here? I do hope this knowledge helps, for I am Eliue, scientist of the Dwemhar. My work is but small to them. They concentrate on their mind powers, but to truly grow great, we will need the power of crystals, and you all,” he said with a smile, “confirm I was finally successful!"

  “That’s great,” Evurn said. “Now, simply provide us where we can obtain the device as you have here, and we’ll be on our way.”

  Eliue stared at Evurn. “So simply you jump between time? Perhaps I was able to develop part of my machine? Does it open realms?”

  “No,” Valrin said, “but the magic exists.”

  “Not magic,” Eliue said, “just science. But, Evurn, you asked a question, and I have an answer. I can get you what you need, but we’ll need to go on a bit of a journey away from the city. Aboard your ship.” He pointed to Valrin. “I have a way to the port, for I’m a very popular man here, and I do not wish to be seen. Yes, there is a place, a holy place, but a place I can get us to. It is where I found this pearl. It is where we go now.”

  This strange man did not inquire of their names, but they each took time to tell him as he buzzed around the room, grabbing random gadgets and packing a small bag.

  “Yes, yes, that is all good. We need to know each other, but be mindful, we cannot kill anyone or it would throw the world asunder, or just might mean very horrible actions in your own world. So, no magic, no stabbing people. Just run, quickly.”

  The man opened a doorway that led to nothing but a stone wall.

  “Um,” Braei said, “that’s a wall.”

  “Oh, come on!”

  Eliue was the first to run headfirst into it and vanished.

  “A portal,” Evurn said. “Fine, let’s go. Ordak?”

  “Why am I always first when you don’t know what’s on the other side?” Ordak ran ahead and vanished.

  “Because, dear orc,” Evurn said to Valrin and Braei. “And he’s covered in tougher skin than me.” Evurn pulled Va
lrin and Braei in with him at the same time.

  Valrin felt himself get squeezed, and then the air become thick. They were in a cave looking out to the lake.

  “Valrin.” Ordak motioned. “Look.”

  Several of the Dwemhar guards were standing near his ship.

  “Wonderful,” Evurn said. “They’ve noticed what should be.”

  “We can fight them,” Ordak said.

  “No, no, no! You cannot! We must be good little time guests! You and you,” Eliue said, pointing to Valrin and Braei. “You two go. You can blend in, unlike the shadow elf and the orc. Get the ship and come pick us up.”

  Valrin and Braei looked at one another.

  “Our garb is not exactly the same as everyone else’s,” Braei said.

  “But your faces are fine, and you do not have the memories the other two here have,” he said, motioning to the others, “I can sense the dark things you have both seen . . . and done. The guards will pick up on that. The other two are much younger, and, well, it seems their memories are not so horrible.”

  “I thought we blended in?” Ordak asked.

  “Well, well, maybe. But we can’t take chances.”

  “Come on,” Valrin said.

  “Valrin, be careful,” Evurn said.

  “Never,” he said with a chuckle.

  As he and Braei emerged from the cave, they noticed they were some distance around the shore of the lake and had to walk around to the actual docks. While there were several guards, they did not pay attention to them.

  “The sirens advanced into the city twice,” one of them said.

  “We must speak with the elders,” another said. “It was the Rusis who went to the shrine of Meredaas first. They likely convinced them of something we do not have.”

  “But the crash—the vessel killed one of their princes who was swimming just beneath the surface.”

  “Eliue is missing, and without him, we cannot perfect this science. He has cut himself off from the Conclave. He has betrayed us.”

  Valrin and Braei moved quickly past the guards and to the deck of the Aela Sunrise.