‘Tomas should be in Sethanon soon, and unless there are more surprises, I think he should be able to deal with this Jakan.’
Pug said, ‘I don’t know. What little I witnessed when your father fought Maarg, and what I remember when Jakan attacked me, leads me to believe we should all be at Sethanon when the demon finally reaches there.’
Miranda got off his back, and Pug admired her long legs, shown to advantage by a short Quegan-style skirt. He sat up and stretched. ‘That felt great.’
‘Good,’ she replied. ‘Let’s eat. I’m starved.’
They left the room in Villa Beata, Pug’s home on Sorcerer’s Isle, and retired to the dining room. A servant, a Jikora reality master, appeared. The creature looked like a large upright walking toad. A year earlier he had appeared unbidden and begged entrance into Pug’s school, and Pug had agreed. Like the other students on Sorcerer’s Isle, he gave service in exchange for his studies. ‘You eat?’ he asked.
‘Please,’ said Pug, and the ugly creature stalked off toward the kitchen.
The midday meal was pleasant, as it had been each day since they had returned from the Pantathian mines. Though it had been only a week, it felt like ages since they had awakened in darkness, disoriented and exhausted. It had taken all of Miranda’s energy for her to create a mystic light, by which to see.
The bisected demon had started to rot, so they assumed they had been in a stupor for at least two or three days. Pug used his last reserves of energy to transport them to Sorcerer’s Isle, where Gathis had immediately seen to their needs.
They had been carried to their room and put to bed, where they slept for another day. Upon rising they had eaten, returned to bed, and slept the day through again. It had now been over a week since their return, and Pug felt as if he were getting close to his old strength back.
Gathis approached as they finished their meal and said, ‘May I have a word with you?’
Miranda rose. ‘I’ll leave you alone.’
‘No, please,’ said the goblinlike creature. ‘This concerns you as well. Mistress.’
She sat down. Gathis said, ‘As I once told you, I shared a bond with the Black One’ - looking at Miranda, he said to her - ‘your father. Mistress.’
She nodded.
To Pug, Gathis said, ‘When Macros last left Midkemia, at the end of the Riftwar, I told you I would know if he should die.’
Pug said, ‘You think he is dead?’
Gathis said, ‘I know he is dead.’
Pug glanced at Miranda, whose face was an unreadable mask. Pug said to Gathis, ‘Of all of us, you knew him best. The loss must be difficult for you. I am sorry.’
‘Your commiserations are appreciated. Master Pug, but I think you misread me.’ He motioned for them to follow. ‘There is something I need to show the two of you.’
They rose and followed him down a long hall. He led them outside, across the meadow that rolled away from the rear of the large house, and up a gentle rise to a plain hillside. When they were halfway up the rise, Gathis moved his hands and a cave was revealed.
Pug said, ‘What is this place?’
‘You shall see, Master Pug,’ said Gathis, leading them into the cave.
Inside the cave they saw a small altar, upon which rested an icon. The image was of a man sitting atop a throne, a man familiar to both Pug and Miranda.
‘Father,’ said Miranda.
‘No,’ said Pug, ‘Sarig.’
Gathis nodded. ‘It is indeed the lost God of Magic’
‘What is this place?’ asked Miranda.
‘A shrine,’ Gathis said. ‘When the Black One found me, I was the last of a race that had once lived in a position of some importance in our world.’
‘You said you were related to goblins in the way the elves are akin to the moredhel,’ said Pug.
‘That’s an oversimplification. Elves and Dark Brothers are the same race, taken to different paths. My people, while distant kin to the goblins, were far more than that. We were a race of scholars and teachers, artists and musicians.’
‘What happened?’ asked Miranda.
‘The Chaos Wars lasted for centuries. To the minds of the gods they were nearly instantaneous, but to lesser beings they lasted for generations.
‘Humans, goblins, and dwarves were among those who came to Midkemia at the end of the Chaos Wars. My people remained on our birth world. While other races thrived, mine did not. Macros found me, the last of my race, and brought me here.’
Miranda said, ‘I am sorry.’
Gathis shrugged. ‘It is the way of the universe. Nothing lasts forever, perhaps not even the universe itself.
‘But one thing my people were as well as those other things I mentioned was a priesthood.’
Pug’s eyes widened. ‘You were a priesthood of magic!’
Gathis said, ‘Exactly. We were worshipers of Sarig, though by a different name.’
Pug looked around and found a rock ledge upon which to sit. ‘Go on, please.’