Read Online Temple of the Traveler: Book 01 - Doors to Eternity by Scott Rhine - Free Book Online Page B

capable hands. He didn’t understand the artifacts connected to the safety ropes, but he knew that they were basically hand-cranked prayer wheels that drove some form of life essence down the wires and repelled spirits away from the divers. The system usually worked well, but so many things could go wrong. If spirit activity was too heavy, the life essence in the jar could run out early, leaving the divers defenseless. Furthermore, the precious-metal wires were brittle and could snap, breaking the aetheric flow. The rowers chosen to turn the wheels sometimes grew lazy and slowed the rate below the effective threshold. “That won’t take long. Just fifteen bits?” he begged.
    She wriggled out of his grasp. “I have to check the boat wards and gear teeth, too.”
    He deflated. Once, a gear tooth on one of the prayer wheels shattered, eliminating a single word-glyph from the prayer. Since this word turned out to be a negative in a key location, its removal made the device function in reverse, attracting every predator in range. That debacle had taken months to recover from. “Can’t you leave a little late? Necrota can handle most of that without you.”
    Humi rolled her eyes. “He’s got a bad case of indigestion. His apprentice is pretty inept.” Bigger spirits were not repelled by the ancient device, which was why the ki mages were kept on hand. If the line did not fend off a predator, the ki mages could suck the life force of the attacker back up through the wire, feeding on it instead.
    “How’d he manage that?”
    “The siphon trick only works if the diver unties from the line first. Two days ago, the knot couldn’t be undone in time, and the mage drank in both lives: the spirit and the woman. The mingling left the ki mage comatose.”
    “And you short-handed,” he remarked. Humi had already survived two similar close calls by her wits and the application of a shard of wizard glass that she kept in her weight belt. “I want you to stay out of the water today,” he insisted.
    “Why?” she ask, shyly. “My participation doubles the find rates. And we have to locate another center stone by the end of the month. Storms have caused too many delays already.”
    He nodded. Behind his veil of secrecy, Kragen had worked for years to uncover the ancient mysteries. Now, they were so close to his goal he could taste it. His finances were depleted, both from the sheer cost of the project and a gang war over control of his territory in Innisport, the largest city in Zanzibos. Add to this the increasing harassment by both neighboring kings, and Kragen was stretched to his limit. “Nevertheless, your contacts among the glass artisans and talent for finding the richest digs are too valuable to risk. You shall attend me the moment you return.”
    Kragen would never use the word “love,” but she heard it in his voice. After a quick bow acknowledging the order, she virtually floated down the spiral staircase and into the compound below.
    The high wizard breathed in her scent from the sheets and sighed. When he ascended to the throne, she would make a worthy chief concubine.
    ****
    Today, Humi noticed the grandeur of this remote palace, which had once been an abbey. The curved, red roofing tiles contrasted with the lush green of the mainland and the misty blue-gray of the sea. All of the fired-earth bricks in the many winding walls had the same burnt-umber tint, matching the color of the exposed soil of the island itself.
    The young woman walked gracefully past the garrison, the rope factory, the wire works, the boat wrights, and onto the dock to ring the shift-change bell. At her signal, the caretakers lowered the freshly repaired and rune-covered longboat into the water. Next, craftsmen would put in three stout, well-tested ropes woven with sesterina wire, each bearing the maker’s name. One ki mage, six divers, and four oarsmen would row into the Inner Sea before the first color tinted the morning sky. At first