When Twins War: Book I

Chapter Sixteen

Ay climbed into the boat close by the water's edge and beckoned for Tarkanyon to sit with him.

"Can we trust her?" Tarkanyon asked. "I realise it is her lake now."

"Bahula is old. And weak. I have moved across these waters many times. I think we need not worry."

"Very well," Tarkanyon said, sitting in the boat and wondering if Ay knew more than he was letting on.

A soft mist hung over the water, crowding around the isle in the middle of the lake. The tall building in the island could be seen clearly, however, ominously visible through the mist.

"I take it we are travelling to the island?" Tarkanyon said as Ay began to row.

"Yes."

They kept quiet as he rowed. Tarkanyon looked over the side of the boat, sensing the depths of the lake. He knew that if a water dragon lived in the lake it would be connected via underwater caves to other lakes. The breadth and depth of what would be a network of caves fascinated him, and he wondered what marvels Bahula may have beheld deep within those caves. He wondered, too, which one was her home. He sensed her eyes upon him as they crossed, ancient eyes looking deep into him.

But they arrived at the island safely. A small path led to the tower, built into a large rock formation on the isle's highest point. The mist seemed to wrap itself around the tower more than anywhere else, but Tarkanyon still found the path difficult to navigate as it winded and twisted underneath jutted crevices and over jagged rocks.

The air seemed sultry and even the sound of their walking was stifling. The gray and faint rising of the morning sun seemed to reflect their path in a rather uncanny way. At last they came to the tower, pale in the light, standing thinly with no windows and a flat roof. Tarkanyon wondered for a moment at its use and saw no markings on its walls, or the small wooden door which stood before them.

Ay simply pushed open the door, which revealed a thick blackness inside. He fumbled at the entrance and drew out a lamp and tinder box, obviously kept at the door for his use. Lighting the lamp he moved over to Tarkanyon's bo, which Tarkanyon had kept drawn since their meeting with Bahula.

"May I?" he asked, looking at Tarkanyon's bo.

Tarkanyon nodded and Ay moved the flame over to the top of the bo. Immediately it glowed a soft orange, emanating a clear light around them like a lamp. Ay enjoyed what he saw for a moment and then pointed towards the door. The bo-staffs of the Outlanders were made from a special wood only found within the forests of the Ancient Gardens, or from the bottom of the WaterCity Lake, from a tree known as the Parikaya. The wood was called Gilioallan. But it was not so much the wood as the process of creating the bo that made it unique: The bo could be lit, at any point, where it would retain the flame within the wood for a great deal of time. The wood of the bo would not burn away unless the bo was kept alight for weeks on end as the resin from the wood created an oil that allowed it to continue burning. The forging of the bo was a secret kept by the Outlanders from ancient generations, and it was only the Sixth Order which knew the art.

Tarkanyon moved toward the door and looked inside. To his surprise stairs did not lead up the tower as he had expected, but down. Down into thick darkness. Down where Bahula, no doubt, would be.

"I grow weary of this riddle," Tarkanyon said. "You must tell me clearly where you are taking me."

"It is hard to explain. But I understand. This tower, from my studies and what I have discovered, appears to be none other than a tower of the Genicoins."

"It bears no such markings," Tarkanyon said.

"No, it does not bear the markings we have come to know much throughout Lexedore," Ay replied. "It is an older tower from older Genicoins. Older than the times of the War or when the Genicoins allied with men and other creatures."