Dack was exhausted as he dismounted and approached Theterm’s keep. He found Theterm stretched out on the path outside, his hands folded under his head and his eyes closed.
“Father,” Dack began softly, “are you all right?” In the moonlight, Dack could barely tell if Theterm was breathing.
“Yes, I’m just thinking,” Theterm said without opening his eyes or moving.
“Okay,” Dack said slowly, “but I need to talk to you.”
“I need to talk to you too,” Theterm said, smiling, his eyes still closed.
“Right, but this is quite an awkward way to have a conversation, don’t you think?” Dack said as he put his hands on his hips, leaning closer to Theterm’s face.
“I’m very comfortable. You should try it too,” Theterm said, opening his right eye slightly. “Very calming.”
Dack stood up straight and began pacing around, lightly kicking the packed dirt. He could feel himself getting very angry, almost angry enough to pounce on Theterm and shake him in hopes that he would see the seriousness of the situation. After of few moments of silence, Dack sat on the ground next to Theterm.
“Good,” Theterm began. “Now that you are sitting down, I can tell you several things you need to know.” Theterm sat up and looked intently at Dack for a few seconds. “Lucan will be here shortly, and you need to go and get Fixx.”
“Fixx?” Dack asked, still shocked at what Theterm announced.
“Yes. He needed to heal, so I sent him home, I think.” Theterm shrugged sheepishly. “There wasn’t much time, and I think I correctly opened the right Way. Not too sure, but at least I remember which one it was.”
“You told me you aren’t supposed to open Ways.”
“I’m not, but it was an emergency. It really doesn’t matter anyway. There’s something else you need to know.” Theterm paused and rubbed his chin. “The ones who sent me here are coming too. I was lying here trying to figure out who will get here when and come up with a plan based on that.” When Theterm could tell that Dack was confused, he added, “I am going to try and undo everything that I’ve messed up before they arrive.”
“The ones who sent you here?” Dack asked as he cocked his head to the right. “You mean other Whisperers of Lore?”
“For the time being, I guess you can call them that. Yes, they are coming.”
“They will arrive after Lucan?”
“Probably.”
“How long until Lucan arrives?”
“Four to six weeks, give or take a few due to winds and the like.”
Dack began to laugh.
“What are you laughing at?” Theterm asked indignantly.
“Do you realize that this is the most information you’ve ever shared with me about what is happening on this island? I had to sneak around outside of the window when the Scarlet Brotherhood would come here because you didn’t want me hearing anything too soon.” Dack chuckled as he continued. “Now we’re sitting here in the middle of the night, in the dirt and the dust, scheming things that won’t happen for a month.”
“Stop it, Dack,” Theterm said abruptly. “I am including you because we need to be ready. This situation is ultimately my fault, and I am trying to do whatever it takes to make it right before it is too late. It is probably already too late for me again, but I am trying to protect you.”
“Protect me from what?”
“Can I please finish?” Theterm shouted.
Dack stood up and stepped back a few paces. “You are still only interested in telling me what you think I need to know, right? What are you trying to protect me from? Who are you trying to protect me from? Lucan? These other Whisperers?” Dack was furious. “No more lies!”
Theterm stood up slowly and moved toward Dack. He spoke slowly and calmly. “We need Lucan on our side this time. He is not the bigger threat. Please believe me when I tell you that. We need Fixx and his friends from the Central Territory. We need the Shadow Cult. We need the Scarlet Brotherhood. I need you to trust me. I need you to help me. This is not the first time I’ve made mistakes, but it is my last.”
“They are coming to kill you?” Dack looked shocked.
“Not exactly, but the effect is the same. Please listen to me carefully. I’ve known since Lucan began abusing his power that this day would come. I hoped it wouldn’t, but I was fooling myself. There is something else you need to know, something a little complicated, but it might help explain things. Are you ready to sit down and learn a little bit more?”
Theterm smiled, Dack nodded, and they both sat.
“The reason they haven’t arrived yet stems from several factors. First, they do not make decisions quickly or easily. They do not move on those decisions hastily, but carefully plan each step. So, when they arrive, it is too late to stop them. Second, timing does not matter to them; they will come when they are ready. Lastly, time does not flow for them as quickly there as it does here.” Theterm took a deep breath and looked at the moon.
“Let’s suppose I am still following what you are saying,” Dack said as he too looked skyward. “How are they going to arrive?”
Theterm thought for a few seconds and then looked again at Dack, who was still looking up.
“Some will use the Way, but I have a sense that they are going to employ other methods too; however, there’s no way to tell until they arrive.”
Dack stretched his arms over his head and yawned. “What do you need me to do?” He looked at Theterm again.
“Tomorrow morning, you need to set off to tell the Shadow Cult and the Scarlet Brotherhood to move all of those who still want to help to the northwest shoreline of the island. It is not going to be an easy task to convince them; however, we will need as many hands as possible to meet Lucan when he arrives. You do not have to tell them that it is Lucan we are waiting for, but it might come to that if no one will help without all of the facts. Once you do that, return here, and we can discuss what to do next about Fixx.”
At the mention of Fixx, Dack felt a wave of relief come over him. “So, he’s not really dead?”
“I never said he was. I told you he was gone. If I am right, he should have had more than enough time to heal. He probably won’t be running around like he used to, but he can still be helpful.”
“Do you really think so?” Dack contained his exuberance as he waited for Theterm to continue.
“If you can’t get a lot of support from the other groups, it won’t matter,” Theterm said as he stood up. “Try and get some sleep. We’ll talk again in the morning before you head north.” Theterm hugged Dack tightly and then shuffled off slowly in the direction of the keep. Dack followed behind in hopes of trying to get some rest, even though he was still too excited to sleep.
The following morning, Dack woke up refreshed. For the first time in a long while, he had slept all night in a bed under a roof with clean bedding. He sat up and stretched, not wanting to begin another few days of riding on a horse. “Not sure how I’m supposed to convince all these people that Lucan’s return isn’t a bad thing,” Dack said as he heard Theterm passing the doorway.
Theterm stopped and entered the room. “Have you ever tried to know where Lucan is, like when you are trying to find me?” Theterm asked quietly.
“Once, but it was very painful. I think I blacked out. Why?”
Theterm rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the floor. “So, he broke the bond with you.” Theterm sat down in a chair next to the bed. “I think he did the same thing to me last night. For these past many years, I’ve always had a sense that he was okay, wandering around, lost, but he was in no real danger. Last night, all I could sense was his determination to return and then searing pain. Sounds like he doesn’t need to stay connected anymore because he’s close enough now.” Theterm sighed deeply. “I fear that my plan to meet him when he arrives might be a little more complicated. I was planning on the bond to guide me to him. He probably realized that too.”
“So, do you want me to alter our plan? Should I gather everyone at the portal area fortress? He’s bound to show up there sooner or later.”
Theterm shook his head and frowned. “I guess that will work.”
“What’s the matter, Father?” Dack asked as he leaned forward.
“I need to speak to Lucan myself. I need to convince him that he has to stop whatever he is planning and put everything back the way it was before the war. That is the only option, but I fear that it still won’t be enough.” Theterm paused and rubbed his eyes. “He doesn’t understand what he’s up against.”
“To be honest,” Dack began, “neither do I. What do these others have planned?”
“I think they will take at least Lucan and me away…” Theterm paused. “But they will probably take all three of us.”
“Take us? Where?” Dack asked nervously.
Theterm breathed deeply and began tapping on the arm of the chair. “I don’t want to talk about it, not because you don’t deserve to know, but I’m not sure I am ready to tell you everything.”
Dack wanted to stand up and yell, but he restrained himself. “Wait. I don’t want to hear a series of half truths and lies.” He chose his words carefully as he contained his anger. “If you tell me, it’s the whole truth.”
“I was supposed to train another, and then I was to leave. Lucan seemed to be doing a great job of learning how to control Ways. I left him alone and focused on things that mattered to me, like exploring the island. When I realized that Lucan was amassing an army, I didn’t stop him; I didn’t even talk to him. I just watched at a distance, hoping the problem would go away. I had an idea of what his end goal was. I just didn’t realize how far along in the process he was before it was too late.” Theterm shook his head in disbelief. “I stepped in at the end and sent him away and told everyone that he was dead.”
“Sent him away?” Dack asked.
“Yes, to the other side of this world. I figured he wouldn’t know that and try to return, but a Whisperer can sense where a Way is when it is used. I guess he has been following that feeling without realizing it, and when you opened the Way last, I am sure he figured out my betrayal. He has been close for quite some time.” Theterm sighed. “That’s all.”
“How did you send him somewhere in this world? I thought the Way leads to other places.”
Theterm smiled. “This is one lesson I never taught Lucan. That is why he didn’t know he was still here. I wasn’t taught how to do it either; I just figured it out. I got away from the portal area and managed to get Book Two from the castle in the Southern Territory so I could send Fixx home—by using this.” Theterm fished in his pocket for a small object and handed it to Dack. “It let me do all that without opening the Way.”
Dack looked at the item, wondering how it did what Theterm had described. It was very light, and he thought it was a dull ring until he looked closer. “Threads? It looks like some sort of metal nut from your toolbox. Where did you get it?”
“When I was first taught about Ways, I just accepted it all. However, I started having questions that I needed to answer for myself. I thought about asking the others, but I didn’t want to seem too interested in the how when they just wanted me to know the why. So I waited until they left and then did my own investigation. I knew the feeling that one gets when they get close, so I started digging in the ground around our Way.”
“Why?” Dack asked, handing the object back to Theterm.
“I wanted to know how it worked, so I figured something had to be buried in the ground, and I was right. About three feet down, there is a box made of the same type of metal as that nut. The box is one foot square with a slightly smaller metal tube attached on the bottom, going deeper. I kept digging, and the thing kept going deeper. I probably dug close to thirty feet down, but it still kept going. The box is bolted to the tube with three nuts on each of the bolts. I managed to only remove one of the nuts,” Theterm said as he put the object back in his pocket. “Trust me, I tried to take the thing apart, but the most I could do was get one piece off. I couldn’t even identify the metal. I finally reburied the whole thing.”
“Did you tell anyone?” Dack wondered.
“No, and you are the only one who knows about this piece. I keep this with me at all times. Shortly after getting it, I realized that I could pull myself to the Way by concentrating on its location, and I would appear there. I then tried pushing myself from the Way to someplace else, but that was harder. The last thing I tried was going from one place to another without stopping at the Way. It takes a lot of concentration, and I find that if I verbalize the location I’m trying to go to, it makes it easier. Even now I can only go to places where I’ve physically been to before.”
“So, how did you get Lucan far enough away?”
“I had traveled extensively before learning about Ways. I took a big risk in sending Lucan far away, to somewhere I had been before, and it was extremely difficult for me to get back. The trip actually made me ill for quite some time, and I haven’t attempted to go anywhere off this island since. I actually waited until I was sure you were the right one before I tried again to move about the island. There isn’t anything outside of this island worth returning to,” Theterm concluded sadly.
Dack stretched and yawned. “So what’s next? Do you still want me to get help?”
“I’ve given it some thought as we spoke just now. If everyone meets at the portal area in one month, that would be the best course of action. If Lucan can be reasoned with, I think we’ll be okay,” Theterm said as he stood up. “I’ll meet you there immediately after you have contacted the Shadow Cult and the Scarlet Brotherhood. Let’s get something to eat before you get going.”
Dack stood up and followed Theterm in preparation for his journey.