‘One more thing before you go. You said that K’wala createdyou to search for something in the netherworld. What was he lookingfor?’
‘He was looking for Borse.’
‘You mean Borse was in the Netherworld?’
‘Yes. Borse had created some type of machine that he tookthere. They wanted me to find out where he was.’
‘You said they wanted to know where he was. Who else wasinvolved?’
‘The Lady of course! She’s involved in everything that happenseverywhere. She and Findus are rivals. Borse was originally workingwith the Lady and now he’s working with Findus.’
‘Did the machine have a name?’ he asked.
‘Yes. I think it was called a cadaltheus. I don’t know what itdid but everyone seems scared of it. So it might be a weapon ofsome sort.’
‘How did you get into the netherworld and more importantly howdid you get out. Isn’t it a one way trip?’ askedAquitain.
‘That’s what everyone thinks but Borse built a two way portalinto the netherworld from Astaria and K’wala found it.’
‘By all the Powers! That’s what they are trying to hide.’thought Aquitain. ‘They’ve broken one of the Creator’s primerules.’
‘Thank you Glammer. You have filled in the most importantpieces of the puzzle. Now go and recruit our army.’
Aquitainteleported himself to Warden’s Rest, had a chat with Ironbark andthe water elemental guard then strolled around inspecting the area.The plants and bushes were all growing well and a couple of firepits suggested that people were starting to visit the place.
SuddenlyGlammer appeared with Ignatius then vanished. He was dressed as ifhe was about to go to bed.
‘You might ask your fairy assistant to allow me to getproperly dressed before coming next time, Gatekeeper. This isMoonmist not Astaria!’ he said in an annoyed tone.
‘Oh I’m sorry. The matter is urgent. I thought that you wereworried about Moonmist being destroyed by that massive build-up ofmagic in the quartz shelf you showed me.’
‘Oh. Well yes I am. I will be presenting your solution to theproblem at the next council meeting.’ he replied.
‘I have a better solution.’ replied Aquitain and I have a dealfor both you and the Mentarin Council to consider.
‘I want all the Mentarin in Astaria to leave. I suspect theyare there to stop me trying to release Lord K’wala and Lord Borsewho both know about the dragons imprisoned there and have had ampletime to work out how to take advantage of the situation. Releasingthem will really rock the boat for everyone.’
‘What if I didn’t release them? What if I leave things as theyare? Did you know that Mudrun no longer has an inter world portal?That means you cannot ship your magic goods through Mudrun anymore.That means no more money or supplies.’
‘My family and I have been merchants trading in magic goods inPanmagica for decades. What I would like to do is set up Astaria asa trading centre for magic goods. You sell them to me and my familyon sell them to the customers. No more middlemen. That way youcontinue your research on Moonmist, you will have all the trade andsupplies you need and if you stay out of my affairs then I’ll stayout of yours.’
‘A part of this deal will be you leave the inhabitants ofMoonmist alone to live their lives without any more interference.No more possessing them for amusement or any otherpurpose.’
‘How are you going to stop the build-up of magic in the quartzshelf.’ asked Ignatius.
‘You and I are going to build a new portal on the other sideof Moonmist and I will redirect the portal in pathway 5 to it.’replied Aquitain. ‘That way there will be no further build up andit will slowly bleed away.’
‘But we’d need a new portal anchor to do that and they’redamned expensive and time consuming to make. I doubt whether theCouncil would accept the cost.’
‘I have a portal anchor stone that we can use and I will fundthe cost of the changeover.’ replied Aquitain. ‘You and I willpersonally eliminate the danger of a magic storm on Moonmist andboth make a profit at the same time. It should also dramaticallyimprove your standing with the Mentarin Committee. What do yousay?’
‘What are you going to do about the dragon and the lizardpeople?’ asked Ignatius.
‘I’m going to evict them. They are not welcome on my domain.’replied Aquitain.
‘I like the way you think Gatekeeper.’ replied Ignatius with awide smile. ‘I just might be able to sell this to the committee. Bythe way I am always available as a consultant.’
‘I’m sure that I can find some profitable jobs for you thatyou will love, Ignatius and maybe some personal entertainment ofthe type that pleases you.’ replied Aquitain as they shookhands.
‘I’ll call an urgent meeting of the Council to consider yourproposal in the next few days. How do you want me to get in touchwith you?’ he asked.
‘Use a dream sending, suggesting a time and date and we’llmeet here at Warden’s Rest.’ replied Aquitain.
‘Before you go perhaps you could tell me why Borse took theCadaltheus into the netherworld?
‘Oh. You know about that do you?’
‘We were all glad he took it down there as it was toodangerous here. The problem is of course is that everyone thinkshe’s going to bring it back out and that’s what they’re all scaredof.’
‘How dangerous is it?’ asked Aquitain carefully.
‘Bloody dangerous! He used it to capture all those elementaldragons. He reckons it should work on lesser powers as well. Maybehe’s even tried it by now.
‘How does it work?’
‘You know how you can store a spirit in a soul crystal. Wellwe found a new material that would allow us to store severalspirits in the same crystal. Borse thought that if he made a bigenough soul crystal then he could create a town in there. Peoplecould live in there forever. So he built one and called itCadaltheus. Needless to say any Mentarin that defied him went intoCadaltheus.’
‘Eventually after he had a dozen in there they worked out away to form a mental concert that allowed them to project theirpower outside the crystal. They tried to possess him and direct himto let them out but he was too strong for them. That gave him anidea. He
