Inside, Togura asked a question:
'Why does questioning destroy an ilps?'
'Because every ilps is anomalous,' said Brother Troop. 'They don't belong in our world. We don't think they belong anywhere. They're birthed at random by the odex every time we excite it. Make the anomalous question its own nature, and it destroys itself.'
'How do we excite the odex?'
'By the use of words, young man. You should have guessed that much from what you've seen today.'
'Then what words do what?'
'Different words do different things. That's for certain. But our real problem is that the same words also do different things every time they're used.'
'Hmmm.'
'Very much hummm! Marry a woman who doesn't speak your language, and you'll be chatting away merrily in less than a year. Our conversation with the odex began in my father's day. We still don't know how to say hello.'
'At this rate you never will,' said Togura. 'So why bother?'
'Because of the treasure, my boy. The treasure!'
Brother Troop took him to the treasury so he could see. A day's conversation with the odex would usually produce at least one real, solid, genuine piece of treasure.
By the time they reached the treasury, Togura was eagerly expecting to see miracles. He was bitterly disappointed by the motley assortment of oddments which was actually on view.
'This is it?' he said.
'Won with great pain, my boy,' said Brother Troop. 'Won with great pain.'
There were two lightweight diamond-shaped objects with holes in them – possibly buttons, and possibly not. There was a disk of think metal stamped with concentric circles; it had jagged edges, and was rusting. There was a pale, slightly translucent object, very thin and sharp, about the length of a finger, which Togura was almost certain was a fishbone.
Next there was a curious square box, blue in colour, which was riddled with holes. Togura was about to explore the holes with his fingers when Brother Troop slapped his hand down.
'No, my boy, don't do that. Brother Dorban lost a finger to that little box.'
Togura stared into the holes and saw a wavering ever-changing light inside. The box was humming.
'I'll tell yo9u one thing for certain,' he said. 'You'll never find out what this is for.'
'Ah, my boy,' beamed Brother Troop. 'We know already. It's an insect trap. It lures them and kills them – or, at least, they go inside and they're never seen again. Fleas, flies, cockroaches – it doesn't discriminate. Leave your clothes by the box overnight, and they'll be free of lice by daybreak.'
There were more things. A pile of old rags. A curious stone globe which appeared to be filled with stars. Some objects made of lead which might have been said to imitate the shape of knucklebones. A length of strong, translucent green cord which appeared to be made all of one seamless piece; it was slippery, and difficult to knot. A stone adze, bearing cryptic markings in paint. A friable, lumpy grey object which Togura was far too polite to identify as a rather old and shabby dog turd.
'All this comes from the odex?'
'Yes,' said Brother Troop, nodding. 'And other things, too dangerous to keep. Today's monster was a case in point. Come, I'll show you the reading room.'
They went to the reading room where there was a single very old and ancient book. Its cover, and its individual pages, were coated with a hard, transparent substance; thus protected, they did not seem to suffer decay.
'This is the Book of the Odex,' said Brother Troop. 'It was discovered together with the odex itself in the Old City in the Valley of Forgotten Dreams, in Penvash.'
'There's no such place as the Old City,' said Togura. 'That's just a tale to frighten children with.'
The Brother shook his head.
'No. There really is a city. Men went there seeking wealth. Many died. Even before they got to the city, one was turned into a monster after a flower swallowed him; they killed him after he killed five.'
Togura nodded politely, though he scarcely believed a word of it, and the Brother continued.
'Of those who went, three returned alive. One was my father. They gained three things in the Old City: the Book, the odex, and their nightmares. Open the Book.'
Togura did so. The patterns within, splattered across the pages as if at random, made a bewildering maze of angles, corners and stunted lines.
'Can you read, boy?'
'A little. But not this.'
'That's scarcely surprising. It's written in two languages. Part is written in the Voice of Jade and Gold, which the scholars of former times used both before and after the Days of Wrath. A travelling wizard was able to translate it for my father. Thus he learnt that the odex was used in former times to store both knowledge and objects. There is vast wealth inside the odex, boy.'
'But you can't get it out.'
'Not unless we gain the index.'
'The index?'
'We summon things forth from the odex by talking to it. The ancients of former times used the index instead. The Book tells us that the index speaks in the Universal Language, whatever that might be. For want of an index, we've been trying to make our own Universal Language. That's why we've been gathering together all the world's languages, trying to make them one.'
'And does that promise you success?' said Togura, unalbe to conceal his doubts.
'Nothing gives us any guarantee of success,' said Brother Troop. 'But! Knowledge! Wealth! Power! It's worth striving for, boy, it's worth striving for.'
'You said that the Book was written in two languages.'
'That's right, my son. One's the Voice of Jade and Gold, which I've spoken of already. The other's the Cold Tongue, which even the wizards can't read. Back before the Devaluation, we paid the wizard of Drum to make the attempt, to see if he could succeed where others had failed. He couldn't. But he told us where we could find an index.'
'He did?'
'He did. After consulting his Catalogues, he told us where we could find a number of them. After the wizards became a power in the world, they discovered many things left over from the Days of Wrath; they didn't understand most of them, but kept them nevertheless, for thousands and thousands of years.'
'So where – '
'I'm coming to that, boy. Give me time, give me time. Over the years, the wizards acquired a number of small, flat boxes, each marked with the sign of a hand and a heart. They could never find out how to ope nthem, or what was inside. Now, thanks to the Book of the Odex, we know. Each contains an index. Each will open with a Word. That Word is Sholabarakosh.'
'Shola – '
Later, boy. You'll have plenty of time to memorise it before we send you seeking.'
The Brother's words gave Togura something of a shock. They gave him a hint of what was in store for him. He thought of protesting, but held his tongue. As the old saying goes, it's best to hear out the bargain before you break it.
'Thanks to the wizard of Drum,' said the Brother, 'we know where to find these boxes. The nearest is at the bottom of the green bottle in Prince Comedo's Castle Vaunting, in Estar. A monster protects the bottle from those who would acquire it. The box itself lies at the very bottom of the bottle and is Guarded.'
'Guarded?'
'I don't know what is meant by that, and neither did the wizard of Drum. However, his Catalogue says it, emphatically, which means there's death waiting nearby.'
'Charming,' mutttered Togura.
'What's that?' said the Brother.
'I said, that would be a real challenge. Something I could get my teeth into.'
