"Mommy, I was soo scared! I want to huggle-snuggle..." a voice said within
darkness.
"poor little boy, come here," a soft female voice responded along with the
sound of rustling sheets.
"You're so warm and soft, mommy."
"What made you so scared, dear?" the soft voice replied, filled with
compassion.
"Big meanies tried to kill me in the forest, big monsters! I was sooo
scared...·the voice started to tremble. "I was SOO SCARED!" the voice burst
into wailing, but was subsequently muffled as if pressed against a soft
surface.
"There you go, my dear... my beautiful boy... my smart boy..." the voice
trailed off into silence as if drowned by the impenetrable darkness.
"Mommy..." the man's voice trailed off, and sounds of rustling garments
followed.
Suddenly, the air within the room was sheared by three loud knocks on the
door. A voice followed, "Grand Master Zenith? Have you seen Master Lorentz?
The doctor is here to see him."
"Yes Master Gretchen, he is here. He will be sent down, you are dis-missed."
Zenith said in a harsh tone.
"Ignis Luminae," Zenith spoke, and the room was suddenly dimly lit. The room
was regally decorated with sophisticated tapestries, the various metallic
ornaments and talismans made of various materials--ivory, crystal, bone...
deflected the dim light lazily. Lorentz was cuddling beside Zenith on a
lavish bed. Zenith slowly woke up as she adjusted her loosely bound
raven-hair.
Lorentz stared at her back from behind--her purple gown was loosely hanging
from her shoulders, exposing her milk-white skin. His eyes traversed above to
the nape of her neck, where he was tempted to suck on the exquisite curvature
of unmarred ivory. While these thoughts coursed through his head, she turned
back and looked at him--her alluring purple eyes stared down at him, filled
with both motherly compassion and lupine mystique. Her blood-red lips started
to move, and words were uttered at Lorentz, but Lorentz did not hear them, he
was entranced by the movement of Zenith's lips.
"Can you hear me dear?" Zenith asked as she tilted her head slightly, a faint
smile putting a curve onto her lips.
"Thy lips drop as the honeycomb--honey and milk are under thy tongue, and the
smell of thy garments is like the smell of Kanakan," Lorentz suddenly spoke as
if in a trance.
Zenith extended her index finger towards Lorentz's forehead and gave a light
push, "you better go play with your friend now, snooks." She then stood up
from the bed and picked up a white shawl, draping it on her shoulders
carelessly. "You should go now."
"Yes, excuse me, Grand Master Zenith,·Lorentz replied automatically, stood up
from the bed, and quickly headed towards the door. As he exited, he saw
Zenith looking out the window; her face lit up with moonlight. He thought she
looked at him, but Lorentz proceeded downstairs.
Lorentz entered the sitting room, and saw Huan lounging on a sofa and speaking
to Master Gretchen.
"...yes, the battle was terrible, the minotaurs outnumbered us but it was no
big deal... Oh, greetings Master Lorentz!" Huan briefly looked at Lorentz,
but again fixed his gaze on Gretchen.
Lorentz wondered if Huan was trying to tempt Gretchen. "Yes, she is a fair
maiden--I assume she is a maiden, at least--she is still young" Lorentz
thought. Nevertheless, the idea of Huan pursuing such "human" ends was
something Lorentz was unable to imagine. "So, to what pleasure do I owe you
for your sudden visit, Doctor?" Lorentz interjected.
Huan replied, "Oh, sorry Master Lorentz, come come, just take a seat, I was
just explaining our recent adventure to Master Gretchen"
Lorentz felt uneasy, why was Huan telling Gretchen about the recent "episode"
and why does he even know her name? Moreover, why isn't Gretchen leaving them
alone when it is obvious that Huan smells like he just came from the
graveyard?
"Well, I shall excuse myself now, excuse me, Doctor Huan, Master Lorentz."
Gretchen suddenly stood up as if she was able to tell Lorentz's suspicion.
Her red robes streamed behind her as she passed by Lorentz, spreading an aroma
of myrrh.
The moment Gretchen left, Lorentz leapt at Huan and asked in a hushed voice,
"why the HELL do you know her?"
Huan sensed jealousy in Lorentz's voice, but replied simply, "She sometimes
helps me with research on anatomy, she has talent."
"Oh... okay," Lorentz replied, satisfied with the defense. "So? Do you need
me for something, or is this just a friendly visit?"
Huan pulled a tome out of his gown. The book had a cover made of thick
leather, cracked and frayed at the edges. There was no title written on the
outside. "May I?" Lorentz said. Huan nodded.
Lorentz opened the tome, and immediately he was shocked. He did not
understand a word that was said in the pages. Lorentz leafed through the
pages, and he saw diagrams that looked like anatomical diagrams, but it was
unclear what exactly was depicted.
Huan was able to tell that Lorentz had no idea, and said, "I was hoping that
you could make sense out of this, but..."
Lorentz replied, "I have no idea what language this book is written in! I
have never seen anything like this! Where did you get it from?"
"The City gave it to me, apparently the book was rotting in old Darrel's
attic. The good mayor was cleaning out the attic and found this book. She
thought it was an anatomical text so she just gave it to me." Huan shifted
forward and grabbed the tome. "Oh well, I guess it was better than not
trying."
As Huan reached out, Lorentz grabbed Huan's hand. "Wait, I'll show this to
Lebrante, our resident appraiser. He has his atelier on the second floor,
follow me." Lorentz pulled his hood over his head and led the way. Huan was
surprised that Lorentz was acting at such levels of efficiency. Huan knew
that Lorentz was a top-notch runemaster, but he rarely took initiative when
there is nothing for him to gain. "The book must have contained something to
his interest," Huan reasoned.
Lorentz and Huan ascended the stairs and walked through a narrow hallway,
strewn with old books and various tools of runemasters. All of these were
collecting dust, which swirled in a mad dance as Lorentz and Huan hastily trod
through. The two approached a door at the end of the hallway. The door was
shabby, and a sign had a symbol of one single eye etched. Lorentz knocked.
"Lebrante, I have something to show you!"
Huan saw light through the cracks in the door. The door opened and a bald man
with a spectacle stood there, holding a brass candleholder with two black
candles sticking from it. The bald man spoke in an impish voice, "What a
pleasure to see you Master Lorentz and Master Lamirez, and you have brought
guests!! And these men are?"
Lorentz winked at Huan and replied, "This is Doctor Huan, and this is Doctor
Guan, they are twins." Huan realized that the man--Lebrante, had an extremely
crooked glance. He wondered how in the world someone like this could be an
appraiser.
"Well well, please come into my humble abode! Becareful of those two bundles
of books on the floor! Yes, and what is your pleasure?" The man smiled,
exposing perfect rows of white teeth.
Lorentz held out the tome. Lebrante carefully took the tome and laid it on a
table nearby. The table had a sophisticated apparatus attached to it on a
hinge, with various spectacles, scales, and measuring devices attached.
Lebrante took a small knife and scratched on the surface of the book, scraping
off a bit of the leather cover. He then licked the knife.
"Hmm... this taste... Oh yes!! This could only be Furfur leather from the
Nameless Lands! It is quite aged as well... approximately... 600 years or
so?" Lebrante spat out the little leather piece onto the floor. Huan smiled
in amazement at such an odd human "specimen."
Lebrante proceeded to look at the contents. He opened a box, which was filled
with gloves made of used clothing. He carefully opened the tome, and
immediately screamed, "UNBELIEVABLE!!!!" The sudden change in the bald man's
demeanor shocked Huan and Lorentz, but Lebrante continued, "UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!"
Lebrante slammed the apparatus over the book and started looking through some
of the spectacles, calibrating them carefully. "Yes, yes yes YES!!" Lebrante
started rubbing his head as his face turned red from excitement.
"What is it, Lebrante?" Lorentz said.
"This tome is written in Sindarin!" Lebrante's eyes glimmered as he uttered
those words.
"This is an original copy of the Sindar Engineer, Dennis Taurer's 'Conversa
Terra et Pneuma' before it was translated to the 'ancient tongue' by the
alchemist Bora Atkins! Only from a quick skim, any bloke could see there is a
lot more material in here compared to the translation!"
"So, that means...·Huan said thoughtfully.
"Yes, this means that Bora Atkins was a lousy translator!!" Lebrante was
foaming at his mouth, and rubbing his head furiously. "I hate lousy
translators! They always leave out important information... bastards!...
stupid... malodorous..." Lebrante's rant became unintelligible as he started
to gaze at the text again.
"Come again in a fortnight, Master Lorentz, Master Lamirez, and Doctor Huan
and Doctor Guan, I'll have these two books translated to the "ancient tongue'
by then..." Lebrante said as he continued to stare through the apparatus.
Huan and Lorentz promptly left Lebrante's atelier, and headed downstairs.
"So Huan, what happened to that boy we rescued the other day?" Lorentz asked
casually.
"Oh him, Master Gretchen is 'taking care' of him·Huan answered in a voice
devoid of emotion. The dim light reflected off his glasses as he continued.
"He died, Master Gretchen is helping me with the autopsy."
"I didn't know that Master Gretchen was helping you to such degrees! No
wonder she has been researching about the lost 'Rune of Healing'" Lorentz
ended up speaking to himself, due to Huan continuing forth, paying no heed to
Lorentz's comments.
"Thank you Master Lorentz, I'll be back in a fortnight," Huan said as he
disappeared down the stairs.
"No need to escort me out, I know my way around here. I am sure you are busy
with your own research." Huan said as he disappeared, his voice ever so
emotionless.
After seeing Huan leave through a window on the second floor, Lorentz walked
towards Grand Master Zenith's chamber.
---------
Huan returned to his clinic. Darkness greeted him as he opened the door and
entered. "Gretchen..." Huan spoke as she sniffed the air, which was imbued
with the aroma of myrrh.
"Doctor, I am down here!" Gretchen's young voice echoed from downstairs--the
morgue.
Huan proceeded without lighting any of the lamps; he knew where things were in
the dark. He navigated himself through the darkness to a stairway that lead
to the morgue. As he walked downstairs down the spiral stairway, light
started to illuminate the darkness, almost blinding him with the contrast.
However, by the time he reached the bottom, his eyes were accustomed to the
light.
Gretchen was facing the other way, standing over a table where a boy's cadaver
was placed. Her hands were moving busily.
"So, how is the sampling going, my apprentice?" Huan said as he walked slowly
towards Gretchen. "Have you found anything interesting in this specimen?"
Huan placed his hand on Gretchen's shoulder as he looked down at the
"specimen" from above.
Gretchen was surprised that Huan actually touched her, but carried on with her
autopsy.
"You have improved very much my apprentice! You haven? made any unnecessary
incisions nor have you forgotten to drain the blood out... oh oh oh... wait a
minute..." As Gretchen was in the process of slicing a portion off of the
liver, Huan suddenly held Gretchen's hand gently. "Not like that... you have
to slice it... like this. There you go!" Huan said.. Flushed, Gretchen
looked back at Huan's face and saw that he was smiling very warmly.
"What is the matter Gretchen? Angry that I interfered your work?" Huan said
with a chuckle.
"No, master... I am just... grateful for being your student,·Gretchen said as
she turned back and looked down at the cold, stone floor.
Huan stared at Gretchen. She was a 21 year old girl, her blue eyes sparkled
with naivete even from beyond her glasses, while her jet black hair was kept
neatly in a bun. Her cheeks were still flushed, which with her ghastly white
skin made her cheeks look like two ripe peaches. "Take a rest, Gretchen, you
are tired."
"Yes, master," Gretchen said as she started to clean up the autopsy tools.
"I will be in my chambers, Gretchen,·Huan said as he started walking
upstairs.
Huan returned to his study, and opened his diary. He opened the diary to an
entry two days ago, which read, "specimen conscious, however, showed sudden
symptoms of trauma, heart failure followed." Huan added a note saying, "cause
unknown," and closed the diary.
Suddenly, Gretchen entered the study, "I am finished, master," she said.
"Good, just wait upstairs, I'll soon follow." Huan said unemotionally as
Gretchen left.
Huan locked his diary and retired to his chambers.
darkness.
"poor little boy, come here," a soft female voice responded along with the
sound of rustling sheets.
"You're so warm and soft, mommy."
"What made you so scared, dear?" the soft voice replied, filled with
compassion.
"Big meanies tried to kill me in the forest, big monsters! I was sooo
scared...·the voice started to tremble. "I was SOO SCARED!" the voice burst
into wailing, but was subsequently muffled as if pressed against a soft
surface.
"There you go, my dear... my beautiful boy... my smart boy..." the voice
trailed off into silence as if drowned by the impenetrable darkness.
"Mommy..." the man's voice trailed off, and sounds of rustling garments
followed.
Suddenly, the air within the room was sheared by three loud knocks on the
door. A voice followed, "Grand Master Zenith? Have you seen Master Lorentz?
The doctor is here to see him."
"Yes Master Gretchen, he is here. He will be sent down, you are dis-missed."
Zenith said in a harsh tone.
"Ignis Luminae," Zenith spoke, and the room was suddenly dimly lit. The room
was regally decorated with sophisticated tapestries, the various metallic
ornaments and talismans made of various materials--ivory, crystal, bone...
deflected the dim light lazily. Lorentz was cuddling beside Zenith on a
lavish bed. Zenith slowly woke up as she adjusted her loosely bound
raven-hair.
Lorentz stared at her back from behind--her purple gown was loosely hanging
from her shoulders, exposing her milk-white skin. His eyes traversed above to
the nape of her neck, where he was tempted to suck on the exquisite curvature
of unmarred ivory. While these thoughts coursed through his head, she turned
back and looked at him--her alluring purple eyes stared down at him, filled
with both motherly compassion and lupine mystique. Her blood-red lips started
to move, and words were uttered at Lorentz, but Lorentz did not hear them, he
was entranced by the movement of Zenith's lips.
"Can you hear me dear?" Zenith asked as she tilted her head slightly, a faint
smile putting a curve onto her lips.
"Thy lips drop as the honeycomb--honey and milk are under thy tongue, and the
smell of thy garments is like the smell of Kanakan," Lorentz suddenly spoke as
if in a trance.
Zenith extended her index finger towards Lorentz's forehead and gave a light
push, "you better go play with your friend now, snooks." She then stood up
from the bed and picked up a white shawl, draping it on her shoulders
carelessly. "You should go now."
"Yes, excuse me, Grand Master Zenith,·Lorentz replied automatically, stood up
from the bed, and quickly headed towards the door. As he exited, he saw
Zenith looking out the window; her face lit up with moonlight. He thought she
looked at him, but Lorentz proceeded downstairs.
Lorentz entered the sitting room, and saw Huan lounging on a sofa and speaking
to Master Gretchen.
"...yes, the battle was terrible, the minotaurs outnumbered us but it was no
big deal... Oh, greetings Master Lorentz!" Huan briefly looked at Lorentz,
but again fixed his gaze on Gretchen.
Lorentz wondered if Huan was trying to tempt Gretchen. "Yes, she is a fair
maiden--I assume she is a maiden, at least--she is still young" Lorentz
thought. Nevertheless, the idea of Huan pursuing such "human" ends was
something Lorentz was unable to imagine. "So, to what pleasure do I owe you
for your sudden visit, Doctor?" Lorentz interjected.
Huan replied, "Oh, sorry Master Lorentz, come come, just take a seat, I was
just explaining our recent adventure to Master Gretchen"
Lorentz felt uneasy, why was Huan telling Gretchen about the recent "episode"
and why does he even know her name? Moreover, why isn't Gretchen leaving them
alone when it is obvious that Huan smells like he just came from the
graveyard?
"Well, I shall excuse myself now, excuse me, Doctor Huan, Master Lorentz."
Gretchen suddenly stood up as if she was able to tell Lorentz's suspicion.
Her red robes streamed behind her as she passed by Lorentz, spreading an aroma
of myrrh.
The moment Gretchen left, Lorentz leapt at Huan and asked in a hushed voice,
"why the HELL do you know her?"
Huan sensed jealousy in Lorentz's voice, but replied simply, "She sometimes
helps me with research on anatomy, she has talent."
"Oh... okay," Lorentz replied, satisfied with the defense. "So? Do you need
me for something, or is this just a friendly visit?"
Huan pulled a tome out of his gown. The book had a cover made of thick
leather, cracked and frayed at the edges. There was no title written on the
outside. "May I?" Lorentz said. Huan nodded.
Lorentz opened the tome, and immediately he was shocked. He did not
understand a word that was said in the pages. Lorentz leafed through the
pages, and he saw diagrams that looked like anatomical diagrams, but it was
unclear what exactly was depicted.
Huan was able to tell that Lorentz had no idea, and said, "I was hoping that
you could make sense out of this, but..."
Lorentz replied, "I have no idea what language this book is written in! I
have never seen anything like this! Where did you get it from?"
"The City gave it to me, apparently the book was rotting in old Darrel's
attic. The good mayor was cleaning out the attic and found this book. She
thought it was an anatomical text so she just gave it to me." Huan shifted
forward and grabbed the tome. "Oh well, I guess it was better than not
trying."
As Huan reached out, Lorentz grabbed Huan's hand. "Wait, I'll show this to
Lebrante, our resident appraiser. He has his atelier on the second floor,
follow me." Lorentz pulled his hood over his head and led the way. Huan was
surprised that Lorentz was acting at such levels of efficiency. Huan knew
that Lorentz was a top-notch runemaster, but he rarely took initiative when
there is nothing for him to gain. "The book must have contained something to
his interest," Huan reasoned.
Lorentz and Huan ascended the stairs and walked through a narrow hallway,
strewn with old books and various tools of runemasters. All of these were
collecting dust, which swirled in a mad dance as Lorentz and Huan hastily trod
through. The two approached a door at the end of the hallway. The door was
shabby, and a sign had a symbol of one single eye etched. Lorentz knocked.
"Lebrante, I have something to show you!"
Huan saw light through the cracks in the door. The door opened and a bald man
with a spectacle stood there, holding a brass candleholder with two black
candles sticking from it. The bald man spoke in an impish voice, "What a
pleasure to see you Master Lorentz and Master Lamirez, and you have brought
guests!! And these men are?"
Lorentz winked at Huan and replied, "This is Doctor Huan, and this is Doctor
Guan, they are twins." Huan realized that the man--Lebrante, had an extremely
crooked glance. He wondered how in the world someone like this could be an
appraiser.
"Well well, please come into my humble abode! Becareful of those two bundles
of books on the floor! Yes, and what is your pleasure?" The man smiled,
exposing perfect rows of white teeth.
Lorentz held out the tome. Lebrante carefully took the tome and laid it on a
table nearby. The table had a sophisticated apparatus attached to it on a
hinge, with various spectacles, scales, and measuring devices attached.
Lebrante took a small knife and scratched on the surface of the book, scraping
off a bit of the leather cover. He then licked the knife.
"Hmm... this taste... Oh yes!! This could only be Furfur leather from the
Nameless Lands! It is quite aged as well... approximately... 600 years or
so?" Lebrante spat out the little leather piece onto the floor. Huan smiled
in amazement at such an odd human "specimen."
Lebrante proceeded to look at the contents. He opened a box, which was filled
with gloves made of used clothing. He carefully opened the tome, and
immediately screamed, "UNBELIEVABLE!!!!" The sudden change in the bald man's
demeanor shocked Huan and Lorentz, but Lebrante continued, "UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!"
Lebrante slammed the apparatus over the book and started looking through some
of the spectacles, calibrating them carefully. "Yes, yes yes YES!!" Lebrante
started rubbing his head as his face turned red from excitement.
"What is it, Lebrante?" Lorentz said.
"This tome is written in Sindarin!" Lebrante's eyes glimmered as he uttered
those words.
"This is an original copy of the Sindar Engineer, Dennis Taurer's 'Conversa
Terra et Pneuma' before it was translated to the 'ancient tongue' by the
alchemist Bora Atkins! Only from a quick skim, any bloke could see there is a
lot more material in here compared to the translation!"
"So, that means...·Huan said thoughtfully.
"Yes, this means that Bora Atkins was a lousy translator!!" Lebrante was
foaming at his mouth, and rubbing his head furiously. "I hate lousy
translators! They always leave out important information... bastards!...
stupid... malodorous..." Lebrante's rant became unintelligible as he started
to gaze at the text again.
"Come again in a fortnight, Master Lorentz, Master Lamirez, and Doctor Huan
and Doctor Guan, I'll have these two books translated to the "ancient tongue'
by then..." Lebrante said as he continued to stare through the apparatus.
Huan and Lorentz promptly left Lebrante's atelier, and headed downstairs.
"So Huan, what happened to that boy we rescued the other day?" Lorentz asked
casually.
"Oh him, Master Gretchen is 'taking care' of him·Huan answered in a voice
devoid of emotion. The dim light reflected off his glasses as he continued.
"He died, Master Gretchen is helping me with the autopsy."
"I didn't know that Master Gretchen was helping you to such degrees! No
wonder she has been researching about the lost 'Rune of Healing'" Lorentz
ended up speaking to himself, due to Huan continuing forth, paying no heed to
Lorentz's comments.
"Thank you Master Lorentz, I'll be back in a fortnight," Huan said as he
disappeared down the stairs.
"No need to escort me out, I know my way around here. I am sure you are busy
with your own research." Huan said as he disappeared, his voice ever so
emotionless.
After seeing Huan leave through a window on the second floor, Lorentz walked
towards Grand Master Zenith's chamber.
---------
Huan returned to his clinic. Darkness greeted him as he opened the door and
entered. "Gretchen..." Huan spoke as she sniffed the air, which was imbued
with the aroma of myrrh.
"Doctor, I am down here!" Gretchen's young voice echoed from downstairs--the
morgue.
Huan proceeded without lighting any of the lamps; he knew where things were in
the dark. He navigated himself through the darkness to a stairway that lead
to the morgue. As he walked downstairs down the spiral stairway, light
started to illuminate the darkness, almost blinding him with the contrast.
However, by the time he reached the bottom, his eyes were accustomed to the
light.
Gretchen was facing the other way, standing over a table where a boy's cadaver
was placed. Her hands were moving busily.
"So, how is the sampling going, my apprentice?" Huan said as he walked slowly
towards Gretchen. "Have you found anything interesting in this specimen?"
Huan placed his hand on Gretchen's shoulder as he looked down at the
"specimen" from above.
Gretchen was surprised that Huan actually touched her, but carried on with her
autopsy.
"You have improved very much my apprentice! You haven? made any unnecessary
incisions nor have you forgotten to drain the blood out... oh oh oh... wait a
minute..." As Gretchen was in the process of slicing a portion off of the
liver, Huan suddenly held Gretchen's hand gently. "Not like that... you have
to slice it... like this. There you go!" Huan said.. Flushed, Gretchen
looked back at Huan's face and saw that he was smiling very warmly.
"What is the matter Gretchen? Angry that I interfered your work?" Huan said
with a chuckle.
"No, master... I am just... grateful for being your student,·Gretchen said as
she turned back and looked down at the cold, stone floor.
Huan stared at Gretchen. She was a 21 year old girl, her blue eyes sparkled
with naivete even from beyond her glasses, while her jet black hair was kept
neatly in a bun. Her cheeks were still flushed, which with her ghastly white
skin made her cheeks look like two ripe peaches. "Take a rest, Gretchen, you
are tired."
"Yes, master," Gretchen said as she started to clean up the autopsy tools.
"I will be in my chambers, Gretchen,·Huan said as he started walking
upstairs.
Huan returned to his study, and opened his diary. He opened the diary to an
entry two days ago, which read, "specimen conscious, however, showed sudden
symptoms of trauma, heart failure followed." Huan added a note saying, "cause
unknown," and closed the diary.
Suddenly, Gretchen entered the study, "I am finished, master," she said.
"Good, just wait upstairs, I'll soon follow." Huan said unemotionally as
Gretchen left.
Huan locked his diary and retired to his chambers.