Chapter 5
The Fragrance of Victory
Next stop was Achenar's room next door. Lance was a little afraid of wrinkling the page up, so he set it down on top of the dresser in Sirrus' room. Once he found Achenar's page, he'd set it down there, too, and start searching for the Myst linking book.
Lance walked next door and turned the knob for Achenar's room. The moment he cracked door with a slight pull, he was thrown back against the railing of the stairway, covering his face in sheer pain. The smell! This horrible stench had just slammed into him, and his nose was burning from it. "What was that?!" he demanded through a scream as he frantically slammed the door shut and dashed halfway back down the stairs. He was gasping for air, and suddenly began to realize just how much nicer it was outside than it was in that room. "Did something die in there?!" he said, soon realizing that it was a definite possibility.
Lance began to think about his situation. Did he really want to go in there? Did he need that blue page? His answers were no and yes respectively, and with a sigh and a shudder, he trudged back upstairs to the door.
Just outside the door, the stench had mostly dissipated into the air in the massive dome. Lance gripped the handle with his left hand, held his nose with his right, took a deep breath and held it, then yanked the door back and rushed in.
His bravado didn't last long, however. A two-foot tall chicken-like creature darted out from underneath Achenar's poorly-made bed and slammed directly into Lance's legs, tripping him with unforeseen force and knocking the wind out of him as he landed on his stomach. He instinctively took a sharp breath in, choked, almost vomited (he hadn't eaten in a while), and dashed out the door, slamming it behind him, this time running all the way down the stairs, and heading straight to the dried-up fountain and plopping down on the benches. He was finally starting to calm down when the "chicken" ran right by him, spreading more of the unbearable smell. He choked and ran outside into the sandstorm, letting the door slam behind him. Between coughs, he said to himself, "I think I found the nasty dinner animal," in reference to Atrus' journal.
But soon, the choking from the sandstorm became too much, and Lance quickly punched in the code for the keypad and ran inside only to find that the "chicken" had stunk up the entire dome. He wanted to break down from lack of fresh air anywhere in this age, but proceeded to dart up the stairs, run straight into Achenar's room, tear every compartment to pieces, find a Myst linking book underneath his mattress, find the blue page in the bottom drawer of his dresser, and run back to Sirrus' room where the smell was virtually gone, thanks to the airtight seal around the doors. With a breath of relief, he picked up the red page and slammed his hand on the Myst linking panel, and felt himself get transported away.
15 years ago
"Achenar!" Atrus scolded. "Do you ever clean your room?!"
Achenar started to giggle. He didn't know why he was giggling, but he was just the same. Atrus had apparently gotten used to this strange habit of his, as he no longer said anything of it. "Father…hehe…I don't know where the smell is coming from…haha!"
Atrus pushed his glasses up on his nose and growled before Catherine spoke. "I'll tell you where that smell is coming from! Those disgusting socks underneath your bed! Clean your clothes, Achenar!"
Father and Mother stormed from the room, and Achenar closed the door behind them. He then crept over to his closet and opened it, revealing the small, disgusting-smelling bioyardo with its head cocked to one side, curious. Achenar reached out and pet the little creature with more giggling. "Hehehehe…you're gonna be okay, little Atrus! Hehehehehe!"
Present Day
"I never had any doubts about your abilities," Ka'Tar said as Lance emerged.
Lance jumped and stumbled backwards, almost falling over the ledge on which the large gears stood. "Don't do that!" he ordered angrily as he collected himself and stepped forward.
"You have found both the red and blue pages. You will need five of each in all to be able to offer freedom to either brother."
Lance cocked an eyebrow. "Five? You said there were only four ages."
"Yes, that is true," the old man said, rubbing his facial stubble, "but there is one of each page hidden on Myst Island itself."
Lance thought back to the half-torn note he found in Sirrus' room, and wondered if that was the "key" to which it referred. "So why didn't you tell me about those first before I went to this age? Wouldn't it have been quicker?"
Ka'Tar shook his head. "There is a vault on this island, created by Atrus. Only his family knows how to open that lock. That is something you will have to learn from Sirrus or Achenar."
Lance had gotten far past the point of exasperation by now, so he didn't offer too much of a reaction. "Okay, then. What's the next age, and where can I find it?"
Ka'Tar shook his head. "No, there is yet another task to accomplish before you can continue."
Lance threw his hands in the air. "Yeah, great. Of course there's another task. Why wouldn't there be?"
"You must eat."
"Of course I must eat. Why wouldn't—eh?"
"You cannot continue like this," Ka'Tar said. "You haven't eaten in the half-day you've spent here, and to be perfectly honest, you are getting even grouchier than you were upon your first arrival."
Lance said nothing, just rubbed the back of his head.
"Go to the library. After adding your two pages to the two books there, find the painting on the wall of a bookcase and touch it. I believe you will figure out what to do next. Just remember that your target is downstairs." With that, Ka'Tar touched his chest and warped away.
43 years ago…
Gehn sat in his study, contemplating his situation. He'd already been here for years, and as he fingered the lock on one of his desk drawers, he couldn't help but wonder how long he'd be stuck here. With him locked in among the Rivenese, surely Katran would want to do away with him. And as easily swayed as that fool of a son was, he could be certain that sooner or later they would try something.
At this point, though, it was merely a waiting game. But he would beat them to the punch. Gehn pulled the final lever on his combination lock and pulled out a thick tome, quill pen, and inkwell. He opened it up to the last used page and began to write. Soon he'd be out of there, and he'd be able to wipe them both out.
Present Day…
"Why am I not surprised?" Lance mused out loud as he stepped into the hallway. Touching the painting had proven to be a trigger for a secret passageway, causing the bookcase to slide backwards and down into three small steps that led up to a passageway behind the bookcase. As he walked, he continued to think about it. "I'm in a book. Of course there's going to be a secret passageway behind the bookcase."
His thoughts drifted to Sirrus and Achenar. The connection between them was still very faded, but he managed to confirm their names, and their need for more pages. Outside of that, they had faded away before he could get any real information. Irritating, Lance decided as he reached the end of the hall. There was a gate here, and when he opened it, he found it to be the entrance to a small, cylindrical elevator. Inside, there were two buttons. As he shut the door, he hit the arrow button that pointed down, and the lights immediately shut off in the elevator. A chill ran down his spine as he was lowered beneath the library. When hit finally stopped, the light came back on, and Lance pulled the door back open to reveal yet another hallway.
After walking for a few seconds, he came into a perpendicular hallway that lead to three separate rooms. One of the rooms, he could tell, was painted in a dark green. On the other end of the hall, there was one red, and one blue room. Lance didn't even have to feign guessing whose rooms those were. So was the one on the far left of him Atrus' room?
The room was painted a dark green, rather elegant looking, and consisted of one huge bed, a dresser, mirror, a large bookshelf littered with books, and another door in the far corner. Lance's first action was to attack the bookshelf and see what he could find. Maybe a book that would take him back home…
"Don't waste your time," a familiar, thickly-accented voice rang out from behind him. Lance turned around to see Ka'Tar standing there. "There is nothing on that bookshelf that will be of any use to you. Simply a few books to other ages, and mostly journals unrelated to your journey."
"So where do you live?" he asked, gesturing to the hallway he'd come from.
"Not here. I am merely a friend of the family, living in my own age. But this is diverting from the topic. The door behind me leads to their food storage area. Once you are finished, head back to the ground floor and towards the large clock tower. Make sure to touch the painting of the open door before you try to leave the library. When you get to the clock tower, start walking to your left, then take another left a little bit after that. You will find a little log cabin. To the right of that, you will see a large tree. I will meet with you there."
He touched his chest and vanished. "Wait…I thought…" Wasn't he using a book strapped to his hip before? How was he linking by touching his chest?
One year ago…
"Spire?" Sirrus asked.
"Hehe…Haven…hehehe…" Achenar giggled
Atrus shook his head. "Those aren't training ages, boys," he said. "They're strictly off-limits. I don't want either of you to even touch those books." He placed each on a pedestal in the library. "These aren't ordinary ages."
"What do you mean, Father?" Sirrus asked in his usual silky tone.
"That's not for you to worry about," Atrus said. "For the moment, I want you to continue your training. Bundle up and head for Rhime. I'll meet you there soon. For the moment…" He looked towards the far wall near the fireplace. "I have other matters to attend to."
Present Day
"I trust you have noticed the tree's compartment?" Ka'Tar asked as Lance stared up at the massive tree…the tree that moved…
"How is this…" Lance started but couldn't finish. The tree, every few seconds, seemed to get shorter. It was sliding into the ground.
"It is a security mechanism," Ka'Tar explained. "One of the ways Atrus secured his most precious ages, similar to the manner in which he protected Revres in that large gear."
Lance again found himself wondering where one could get security like this for their own home. "So, the next age is in there? Which one is it?"
Ka'Tar seemed to hesitate before speaking. "I wish there was an easier way for me to bring you into this, but…ages tend to defy logic, by nature…but there are some that defy the very laws of physics that most upper-worlders hold most dear."
"So you're saying this age is going to be really weird," he mused out loud.
"That is precisely what I am saying. This age is called Asenia. While I could tell you about its logic defying properties, you should turn around and look."
Lance turned around to the tree once again only to see a carved out compartment in the tree, large enough to fit a person. "I suggest you get in," Ka'Tar said. Lance hesitated for only a moment, then ran into the compartment before it sank underground. "Remember," Ka'Tar called out. "Breathe!"
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Lance demanded, but he was already underground. A room had been carved out under here, and on a table lay a book marked "Asenia." He opened up to the linking panel only to see a blue display with no features. "Great," he muttered. "Now I really have no idea what I'm getting myself into." He reached out for the panel reluctantly and vanished.
