The trip through the waters was a rough one. Once Lunae, Fulch, and Narutay got through the other side, they all struggled to regain their senses.
“It has never been this hard to travel through water before,” Fulch said. This made Lunae feel inadequate. She shrugged her shoulders and told them to head towards the library. Once they got there, Fulch then realized how wet everything was.
“Dahak Lunae, you didn’t have to ruin everything,” Fulch said. Lunae was getting tired of Fulch’s remarks; she was doing the best she could. Once they got to the hidden chamber, Lunae instructed everyone to come inside.
“But only the chosen can go in, Narutay isn’t one of them,” Fulch said. Lunae glared at him.
“We can’t risk one of us being out here all by themselves if Shardoe shows back up. We have to stick together,” Lunae said. Fulch wanted to argue but knew that Lunae was in no mood. Fulch had to admit to himself that he was excited to finally go into the chamber. Narutay, on the other hand, was scared.
“I feel like I shouldn’t, this is for the Masters, not someone like me,” Narutay said. Lunae was annoyed by everyone at this point, and she opened the door and pushed them both in. They walked down the hallway filled with floating lights, and the feeling of waves crashing around her, and she felt dizzy. She wondered if Fulch felt the same.
“Do you feel the waves?” Lunae asked. Fulch nodded his head, and it looked like he was going to be sick. Once they got to the chamber, that’s when Fulch felt uneasy.
“He doesn’t know,” he whispered to Lunae.
“Doesn’t know what?” Lunae said. Fulch looked at Narutay, who seemed to be preoccupied with everything around him.
“That I’m a master, I don’t think we should let him know,” Fulch said. Lunae made an obvious sigh.
“It’s too late for all that now. He’s with us, or else you would have killed him by now,” She said. Fulch knew that there was no point in arguing with her and accepted his fate. They stood around the altar, and Lunae was surprised that there was no water in it. Fulch, on the other hand, knew exactly why there was no water.
“I have to see what the Master wanted me to learn…from his memories,” Fulch said. Lunae stood back, and Narutay was confused. Fulch then started filling the altar with his water, and that’s when Narutay realized the truth.
“He is a master?” Narutay asked. Lunae shook her head, and for the first time, he felt like there was hope. Once Fulch was finished, he was hesitant to put his hand in the water. Lunae came up to him and rubbed his back.
“It will be okay, the Master knew what he was doing, trust him,” Lunae said. Fulch then put his hand in the water and was transported into the Master's memory. First, he saw the chamber of water and noticed that something was missing from the water that circled the Master. Like a piece of it had been taken out. Then he heard the Master's voice. He spoke to Fulch and told him about the chant to reach the chamber of water. Then the Master talked to him about the writings of Gunnar, how he could teach them all they needed to know. Then something strange happened, the water chimed in. Screaming the name Lannyre over and over again until Lunae pulled Fulch’s hand out of the water. They fell back, and the water in the altar was steaming.
Fulch told Lunae everything that he had heard and seen. Lunae then showed them the hidden room with all the writings in it and the drawer with the name Gunnar. They sat there for some time reading everything, and they were honestly having a hard time understanding it all.
“This is hopeless!” Fulch said. Lunae was at the same point herself and couldn’t see the point in trying to continue. That’s when Narutay noticed something.
“Didn’t you say the name Lannyre?” he said. They both piqued interest. Narutay was looking at a cabinet whose name was scratched off. They both got up and rushed over.
“See in these journal entries, it always starts off with I, Lannyre, and he seems very conceited, but he talks about finding the talismans from the Signucks and Piskals that can combine to make powerful magic that can enslave a whole race,” Narutay said. Lunae and Fulch quickly looked through the papers.
“See here, it says that he’s found the talisman that can make them obey his every command. He says his master led him to this knowledge and that he will use it to regain his rightful place,” Lunae said. That’s when she thought about what Shardoe was saying.
“I think Shardoe is Lannyre,” Lunae said. This made everyone stop.
“How is that possible?” Fulch said. Lunae thought about it carefully.
“Well, we don’t know how long it took Shardoe to regain his power after he was killed by Gunnar, and it seems to me that it’s taken him until recently to gain control over his powers. He waited until after he knew the Master was dead before venturing into the temple, so that must mean he was scared of him. So, combined, we must be a threat; we just can’t let him know that you are a Master. It will be an element of surprise,” Lunae said.
“We have to find this talisman. He is probably looking for it as we speak,” Fulch said.
“But the real question is what did he use it for?” Lunae asked. They looked for more information until Fulch found it.
“I cannot believe it…it says that he used it against the Rhudons to kill off the Signuck and to go after the Piskal people. He says that it was his revenge for dethroning him. He also says that it had some weird side effects, making the species go mad with bloodlust. Do Gunnar’s journal entries talk about that at all?” Fulch said. They looked, and that’s when Lunae found it.
“It says that he killed Lannyre, and that should put a stop to the madness, but he then goes on saying they have been forever changed; it’s generational now. He said that he will do everything in his power to reverse it, and that’s it, until we get to the fact that he hid it,” Lunae said. They all felt defeated. This was not what they were looking for. They were looking for more information, but Fulch realized the more he looked, the more it seemed like things were written in code.
“The Masters’ spoke in code. Everyone has a different way of doing it, but I believe I can figure these out given time,” Fulch said. Lunae looked at him with hope and yet sadness.
“We don’t have time for all that, we’ll have to do it when it’s safer. Now we have to get to your people,” Lunae said. Fulch nodded, and Narutay was happy to leave. This place made him uncomfortable.
“I’m not sure how to get us anywhere else,” Lunae said. Fulch grabbed her hand.
“Just go where we have been, think of the hut that we stayed at, it will take us there,” Fulch said. Then Lunae poured the puddle, and she reminded everyone to take a deep breath as they stepped through the puddle.