I found the home of the Illeniels was fascinating. The upper floors held at least seven separate bedrooms, several parlors and, much to my excitement, a library. The first floor had a large parlor, a workshop and a massive kitchen. A door from the workshop led down a steep staircase into what seemed to be some sort of basement. The house itself seemed to have a foundation of solid stone, and the stairs had been rough cut from that same stone as they led down. Strangely they came to a dead end within the rock under the house. A casement indicated a doorway but the granite was seamless and unbroken. It appeared to be a false door.
Upstairs Rose was eagerly examining the library while Penny studied the master bedroom. I was alone staring at the strange stone doorway, if it really was a doorway. Unlike the rest of the house there were no enchantments or other magical markings here. The rock was smooth and untouched. I opened my mind to examine the stone, trying to see if there was a space behind it, but the world vanished into the stone. My thoughts sank into it without finding any purchase.
He has come, but does he see?
Great, the voice was back. It was easy to distinguish this from the physical voice that the door had used above. This was a purely mental thing, almost a delusion. I had begun to wonder about myself. I imagined I could feel the stones around me pulse, almost like a heartbeat. I’m losing my mind, I thought to myself. A scream from upstairs brought me back to reality.
Grabbing my staff I raced up the stairs, heading for the upper floors where the girls were exploring. I could hear both of them yelling now, followed by a loud crashing sound. When I reached the third floor I saw Penny crossing the hallway brandishing what appeared to be a wooden hat-rack, she vanished through the library door ahead of me.
“Let go of her!” came Penny’s hoarse battle-cry as I looked in the doorway. The scene that greeted me would have been comical if not for the seriousness of the situation. A massive creature made of solid stone held Rose upside down by one leg. Her dress had fallen upward to cover her face and revealed a lovely set of gams. Penny charged at the creature holding Rose with her hat-rack lowered like a lance.
She struck it solidly but it ignored her attack. The man-shaped creature’s mass was such that she failed to move it at all. “Please desist, intruders will not be tolerated.” The voice that issued from it was deep and grating, like the stone it was made of. Penny ignored it and swept her hat-rack back to strike it across the side of the head. The wood snapped, leaving her holding the bottom half.
I had to give her credit, despite her total inability to affect the creature holding her friend she showed no fear. The only sound she made was a low growl as she searched the room for another weapon. She reminded me of an angry cat.
“Let me go you stupid pile of rubble!” That was Rose hissing from beneath her inverted skirts. Meanwhile Penny had found one of the library chairs and was winding up for a swing at the back of the thing’s legs.
“Attacks will not be tolerated.” It said and I saw long stone spikes sprouting from its free hand. As Penny swung at it the arm lifted, preparing to sweep down. The force alone would crush her, the spikes were overkill.
A quick word and I created a shield around her, the room shook as the massive arm impacted the shield. My knees buckled at the strength of it. Uttering several more words I thrust my arm out and an invisible fist drove it back to slam into the bookcase behind it. Rose screamed as she swung violently back and forth. “Stop!” I yelled.
The creature froze in place. Well hell… if I had known it was that simple I would have tried that to begin with. “What is your name?” I asked.
“Magnus, master,” it replied.
“Why are you here?”
“I guard the library,” it answered.
“I hate to interrupt, Mordecai, but do you think you could have it release me before you continue your interrogation?” Rose said.
Why hadn’t I thought of that? I took one more good look at her legs… no sense wasting the moment after all, “Magnus please release the woman. She is a welcome guest here.” It let go of her leg immediately, dropping her unceremoniously on her head.
“Ow!” Rose landed hard, forming a confusing pile of skirts and lovely female limbs. I moved to help her up but Penny beat me to her.
“Back off hero…” she said as she helped Rose to her feet. She gave me a hard stare, “I saw that look.”
I was deeply offended by her lack of trust but I figured now wasn’t the time to profess my wounded innocence. “Magnus, what are you?” I turned my attention back to the library guardian.
“A golem,” it answered simply. That helped, I had no idea what a golem was.
“Please return to your station, you will not be needed further today,” no sense admitting my ignorance. “The two women in the room with me are both guests and have my permission to use the library,” I added with an afterthought.
“Yes master.” It walked ponderously across the room and stood in the corner. Once it stopped moving it looked like statue, a particularly ugly and uninspired one. Its ancient creator obviously hadn’t taken many art classes. Then again maybe its creator had been an impressionist. I had never cared much for what they called ‘art’.
“Are you ok Rose?” I asked. She was sitting on the floor rubbing her injured leg. The calf and ankle were forming an ugly bruise. “Here let me see if I can help.” I knelt down to put my hands on her leg.
Penny whispered in my ear as I passed her, “Careful now, I’ve got my eye on you.” Women! You’d think I was half goat by the way she acted. I gave her a wink to put her at ease.
Placing my hands on Rose’s leg I closed my eyes and focused my attention inward, first within myself and then within the leg I was holding. Broken blood vessels and inflamed tissue were the main problem. I repaired as many vessels as I could but the general inflammation was beyond my skill. Hopefully I had limited the extent of the bruising but I couldn’t be sure. I also used a trick I had learned the year before, putting the nerves transmitting pain signals to sleep, numbing the sensations from that area.
“How’s that?”
“Better,” Rose replied, “Thank you.” She put her hand on my shoulder and used me as a support while she got to her feet. “Doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would,” she mused.
“I numbed it a bit. It will start to hurt more later, but with luck the worst will be over by then.”
“I think perhaps I’ll stay closer to you while we search. Most of the magics here seem to recognize you as their master.” Rose was a wonder. She had just been shaken within an inch of her life and she was already calmly reasoning out the best course.
“That does seem wise,” Penny put in, nervous now that it was clear how dangerous the house could be.
A random thought crossed my mind. I wondered how Penny would look hanging upside down. Her legs were easily a match for Rose’s. I considered suggesting we test the theory, but I doubted she would take to the idea. Maybe if we used pillows in Magnus’ hands, so that it didn’t bruise her…
“I don’t like that evil grin on your face Mordecai. What are you thinking?” Penny asked.
“Nothing,” I replied innocently. “Did you find anything interesting in here Rose?” See, I’m learning the fine art of misdirection. Penny pursed her lips, she wasn’t fooled.
“I was just walking around, reading the titles on the spines. I saw one over here titled, ‘The History of Illeniel’, but when I reached up to pull it down your rock monster took offense,” Rose responded.
“And that was when Magnus inverted you?” Something about the word inverted just sounded funny to me. I’d have to find more ways to include it in future conversations.
“I’d like to know who perverted you Mort,” Penny commented dryly.
“Actually I think it meant to warn me away at first, but I was so startled I kicked at it and… well you saw the result,” Rose looked almost embarrassed. That was new to me; normally she was rather like a cat, devoid of shame.
I reached up to pull down the volume that had started all the trouble. I had to admit the title was intriguing. The book was inscribed with runes to preserve it against age and decay so it was difficult to judge how old it was, but I had the feeling it was incredibly ancient. The secrets of ages might lie within its pages. Considering the depths
