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Date Posted: 20:53:49 04/25/02 Thu
Author: Erlic....Corum & Yorik
Subject: Rest and a clue
In reply to: Isobel 's message, "Slumberland" on 19:53:42 04/25/02 Thu

"Hello, darling. I take it I'm not dead yet."

Erlic simply smiled as the mage finally regained consciousness. He helped her sit up just a bit so that she could drink some water. He carefully inspected the wounds, and cleaned them up as best as possible. He then applied a healing salve that his master helped him make from herbs, when a healer would not be present. The guild master finished bandaging her neck, and simply sat back, while caressing her face.

�No, you�re not dead yet,� Erlic stated with a slight smile. In fact he probably wouldn�t have appreciate anyone�s death, including hers, for death was simply too tragic, and dying in a place such as they were really didn�t sound too appealing for any adventurer. Most of the traveling men or women Erlic had journeyed with were usually content to die on the battlefield, actually they preferred not to die at all, but if they had to, it would be on the battlefield, not in some place hidden under the ground of an abandoned city.

The group he traveled with now was no different, regardless if he had known them for some time, or for a brief period of time. Death by monster or creature was such a terrible way to depart the world they lived in. They had managed to escape death once again. Even more, they had managed to get injured, but as luck would have it, once again they managed to survive despite the severity of their wounds. Fortunately they had a cleric with them, and people such as Argus, or Valhorek, or any other healer were always worth their weight in gold. An injury, especially when severe, managed to bring the group closer to each other, for they had to rely on one another�s prowess when encountering the face of death.

Now it was simply a time to rest, and a time to heal. Ravin was asleep, and although he had almost lost his appendage, luck smiled on all of them saving each person�s ability for the next confrontation.

�I suggest you rest, and relax,� Erlic stated to Jade. �And no you�re not dead.� He played the scene in his mind as the creature slashed its claws over her neck. Such an attack could have killed the exotic mage, and he preferred not to think of the why relating to the battle. Jade was alive, and that was all that matter. He felt an affinity for her, and still had no idea why. Perhaps it was best to simply accept the situation, and see how it played out.

�Next time,� Erlic continued. �I suggest you try to avoid the battle as much as possible.� He paused a moment before continuing. �I don�t enjoy seeing you get hurt.� It was probably the best explanation that had ever come out of him yet, admitting that he enjoyed her company, and yet not really stating the obvious. He was still a man that remained closed to the others for reasons of his own. He didn�t want that with Jade, but because of his past reputation, he knew that he could only enjoy her companionship in the privacy of a room, away from probing eyes.

******************

"What do you think we should ask him?" Tia stated to Corum.

Corum thought about the scene he had witnessed within the gem. Fortunately he wasn�t going crazy for even Tia had managed to observe what appeared to be an old man inside the gem.

"What do you think we should ask him?"

It was an interesting question, and one that Corum had to wonder. What could he possibly ask the gem? He thought of his old mentor, and wondered if the gem could tell him if the old man was resting peacefully in the afterlife? Or maybe the gem wouldn�t be able to answer that question? What about the village he came from? Did he want to know more about it, and what had happened there while he was gone?

The more he thought of the question, the more idiotic they all seemed to be. He had to think of something really important, something that would give everyone a renewed vigor in their never-ending exploration of this place, not to mention other places as well. Would someone eventually die or get extremely injured?

Be it sight, sound, the smell, the touch. There's something inside that we need so much. The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound, or the strength of an arquebus deep in the ground. The wonder of flowers, to be covered, and then to burst up, thru tarmack, to the sun again. Or to fly to the sun without burning a wing. To lie in the meadow and hear the grass sing, to have all these things in our memories hoard, and to use them, to help us, to find...

�That�s it!!!!!� Corum shouted as he turned to Tia, and gave her a big kiss. �Thanks for helping me figure out what I needed to ask.�

Corum was about ready to ask his question when suddenly he stopped, and thought about something. Someone, at sometime, at someplace, only he didn�t know exactly where, had said something to the effect that if you asked something, you really had to ask it, as opposed to just asking it, which didn�t always achieve the same results. So in all reality, Corum had to figure out what it was that he had to ask, not just ask, but to really ask, and that was the hard part.

This garden universe vibrates complete. Some we get a sound so sweet. Vibrations reach on up to become light, and then thru gamma, out of sight. Between the eyes and ears there lay, the sounds of colour and the light of a sigh. And to hear the sun, what a thing to believe, but it's all around if we could but perceive. To know ultra-violet, infrared and X-rays, beauty to find in so many ways. Two notes of the chord, that's our fluoroscope, but to reach the chord is our life�s hope. And to name the chord is important to some. So they give a word, and the word��

Corum stood there for a moment when suddenly he had the answer. Why didn�t he see it before? Again he turned to kiss Tia, thanking her profusely. Of course one would have to wonder why in the world Corum was thanking Tia to begin with, when good ole� Yorik was the one providing him with the answers. But we forget that Yorik doesn�t really talk to Corum�.or does he? But regardless of that point, Corum had figured out what it was he had to ASK.

�OK,� the youth began feeling rather sure of himself. �From this exact location, where is the branch of midnight hue located?�

Why do we never get an answer, when we're knocking at the door? With a thousand million questions
about hate and death and war? 'Cause when we stop and look around us, there is nothing that we need. In a world of persecution that is burning in its greed.

The man in the gem studied Corum, or to Corum that�s what it seemed the man, wizard, fairie, whatever he was, was doing. Corum waited, and waited, and waited, until a voice boomed out of the gem.

�That which you seek is at the far opposite end of the level of where you are, but two levels below the one you currently occupy.�

With that the person inside the gem vanished. Maybe he went to sleep or something, so Corum simply stood there, and looked at Tia. He was never good at solving riddles, well, that wasn�t always true. If he thought about something hard enough, the answer usually came to him.

To pass beyond is what I seek, I fear that I may be too weak, and those are few who�ve seen it through to glimpse the other side. The promised land is waiting like a maiden that is soon to be a bride. The moment is a masterpiece, the weight of indecision�s in the air. It�s standing there, the symbol, and the sun of all that�s me. It�s just a travesty, towering, blocking out the light, and blinding me. I want to see.

Now to most normal people, the above script would have probably made no sense. But in Corum�s case it practically made all the sense in the world, for that was the way the original Yorik had taught him, somewhat in the ways of riddles, and schemes, and such so as to confuse the unconfused, and provide clarity to the confused, which for Corum was like someone speaking common to him.

�That�s where we have to go,� Corum stated as he turned to Tia, and the others. �I know where the branch of midnight hue is at.�

The others looked at him rather dumbfounded wondering how he knew the answer. �It�s easy,� the youth stated. The gem said the following: �That which you seek is at the far opposite end of the level of where you are, but two levels below the one you currently occupy�. That means we have to go back the way we came, continue to through the other passageway, and somehow find a way down to two levels.�

Corum was feeling rather proud, at least for the moment. What if they didn�t find the branch? Everyone would think him a complete lunatic. Well, he had been called worse before.

�You know what?� he asked Tia. �I�m hungry.� With that he went to get some food, sat down on the floor, and proceeded to eat. He never thought that thinking could give him such an appetite.

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Replies:

Finding the branches -- Ravin, 15:12:59 04/26/02 Fri