BOOK OF REEEVES 5
Note: Like with Exile I was in a hurry to complete this chapter. I was in California for a week at that through everything off balance. I'll try my hardest to catch up I promise!!
…
Back in D'ni a librarian paced back and forth quite flustered. She was waiting for some maintainers to rush into the building and assure her that life was perfect, the D'ni where great, and that she hadn't seen what she had just seen.
She once again looked at the open book that a young man had just rushed in a linked into before she could tell him not to.
Just then a small group of maintainers rushed in. GrandMaster Gerehn had come too, and so had a Lower Class citizen. The librarian gasped that a lower class citizen even dared to enter the Common Library. Especially that particular citizen.
"What seems to be the trouble woman?" Master Gerehn asked forcefully.
"Master it's terrible! That young man linked into a book that…"
"Spit it out!" the citizen shouted.
"The book is currently still being tested and prepared by the maintainers! It could be unsafe!"
Master Gerehn smiled a cruel smile. He was sure Reeves noticed his mistake.
…
Reeves sat in a dark room, it smelled of wet Nara, and he could hear no noise besides his own breathing, and that of his interrogator.
"So tell me Reeves, what was the last thought that went through your head as you linked?" Master Gerehn asked his prisoner.
"The exact thoughts, sir, was Oh Crap." Reeves replied.
"And why is that?" Gerehn asked.
"I realized the moment I linked, that it wouldn't go as I had planned..." Reeves started.
"Go on." Gerehn commanded.
"The book, had no Maintainer symbol."
"Exactly! Do you know why?"
"It was still being tested."
"Yes! By the Maintainers! You see why we are so perfect ahrotahn? We, the Maintainers rule D'ni, because nothing escapes us. Not even the slimiest and sneakiest person. And you, ahrotahn, are not even the slightest bit of being a remotely respectable prisoner!"
Reeves felt his own blood pulsing. Each time the man used the word "ahrotahn" Reeves' could feel his heart rate increasing and his muscles tightening. If he could get loose he would instantly kill the man not caring about the consequences.
"Ahrotahn… do you know who you are?" Gerehn asked, his voice almost sounding full of sentiment. He stared into Reeves' eyes as if expecting an answer.
Reeves lowered his head, he did not know the answer Gerehn wanted.
"Do you see that Sukal? Your own son, does not know who he is!" Gerehn laughed.
Reeves processed what had just been said. Sukal? His father wasn't named Sukal! Reeves lifted his head to see if he could figure out what Gerehn was thinking. And at that moment, an ancient looking man approached him.
"Look at this Sukal! He doesn't even recognize you!" Gerehn laughed again in that detestable laugh.
The man looked at Reeves and smiled. Reeves smiled back, though he did not know who he was smiling at. Gerehn watched closely with a look of triumph on his face.
"I'll be killed for this." Sukal said to Reeves. Then handed him an open linking book. He then grabbed Reeves' hand and pressed it against the panel.
The last sounds Reeves heard was that of shouting and the tearing of a page, then a sickening lurch and everything was dark.
…
Reeves opened his eyes. He heard nothing but dead silence, and could see that he was in some sort of artificial cave. Slowly his eyes adjusted to the dim light. He wasn't sure exactly what had just happened.
He stood up and brushed off his clothes. He also noticed that he was wearing Prisoners clothes, and not his Maintainer's clothes. He wasn't sure when that had happened but assumed he would remember later.
He also felt blood dripping down his nose. Some dripped into his mouth and he winced. Rather than the normal taste of D'ni blood, it had a strange metallic taste like that of a very clean penny.
As he wiped it off he also noticed yet another change. He felt along his jaw and noticed just below the skin, was a strange bone formation. It felt like that of a spine, but it was just below the skin on his jaws. He felt it run up to his ears, and as he touched his ears, he noticed that they had become much thicker, and lightly pointed.
He also noticed his hair had been cut much shorter, like that of a prisoner. He sighed; knowing that this must be his punishment, and that he had simply entered some kind of shock.
"A Prison age…" He muttered. "Like must ages, but without a return linking book. Normally a miserable age." He yawned, and began to walk, taking note of how stiff his joints felt. As if he had been laying there for a few days.
He continued toward the light, as he came to the exit of the cave, he winced, it was dawn, and the sun was just beginning to rise, yet the sunlight was almost more than he could handle. It pierced into the back of his sensitive eyes, and he cried out in pain.
"Why would they do this to me?" He cried. "To place me in an age without any means to protect myself? Am I to live in this cave my whole life?" He fell to the ground covering his eyes and wept.
He could feel himself slowly going blind. His attempts to close his eyes and block out the light were not strong enough. The redish brown color of his new blood through his eyes, was slowly replaced with that of a dark gray, and then suddenly it was black.
Suddenly, a voice spoke; "Hea eri Yua, hea r'rais es mei aavir u lai rasis?" it said. Startled, Reeves looked up. Through his failing eyes he saw that he was in the shadow of a boy, holding the reigns of a hairy tusked beast.
Reeves covered his eyes and asked the boy to repeat what he had said. The boy at first looked very startled, and then reached out his hand. "You are Word Book?" the boy asked, in broken D'ni.
"Yes, D'ni." Replied Reeves, as the boy helped him up onto the beast, which Reeves fell off immediately.
"You forgive me, Word Book is not best language." The boy said. "My father is good with this language."
Reeves smiled. "You are doing fine. But may I ask who taught you to speak in D'ni?" Reeves climbed back onto the beast, still closing his eyes.
"The Book Man taught us much things." The boy laughed, "Why do you not know this?"
"I am… not from around here." Reeves said slowly, not sure if he should tell the boy where he was from yet.
"This you say, yet you are a Bird Man?" The boy looked at him, waiting for an answer.
"I do not know of this Bird Man, all I know is I was once somewhere else, and now I am here."
The boy smiled, and then started leading them away. They didn't speak to each other the rest of the trip, except one time when the boy tied a cloth around Reeves' eyes and Reeves' thanked him. They continued walking the rest of the day, and as it got cooler, he could hear the sounds of music in the distance.
"What is that?" Reeves asked.
"The night party. We survived another night!" The boy let out a loud cheering noise.
"Survived?" Reeves asked.
"Father will answer questions better than I."
After a few hours, they stopped walking and the boy untied the cloth on Reeves' eyes.
When Reeves opened his eyes he could see that he was standing in front of a huge wall. In front of him was a large bronze door with the symbol of a rising (or setting?) sun. Above the door was a watchtower surrounded by a membranous green blob.
The wall stretched around a city, and outside the wall, where he was, was desert everywhere he could see. Which wasn't much because he was almost blind.
"Where am I?" Reeves asked the boy.
"We call it the Sun's Child."
The boy reached into a sack on the beast's back and pulled out a large metal rod, which he then used to bang on the wall three times. He then stood back and waved up at the guards at the watchtower. One of the guards then moved to one side and began cranking a wheel, which in turn, opened the door.
Once inside Reeves was over whelmed by the party that was going on inside. Thousands, if not, millions of people where celebrating, singing, or stumbling into things.
As Reeves passed by people many stopped and stared, or placed their hand on their shoulder and bowed very low to the ground. The boy continued leading Reeves to the center of the party, where a large gold tower was erected.
Reeves tried to avoid looking at the people, for many of them would burst into tears if he made eye contact. As the walk continued to the center, much of the music and partying stopped and people instead began to worship, or in some cases cry.
They stopped in front of a very old man who was sitting cross-legged on a carpet on the floor. Behind him was the large gold tower. He was wearing a very loose white shirt, and even looser, baggy pants. He was wearing a large elaborate crown, covered in jewels, horns, and bones. On the front was an extravagant exaggerated picture of a bird.
Reeves stepped off the beast to greet the man.
Immediately the man bowed and instructed the boy to do likewise. After he had bowed he made a gesture to the people around him and they all lied on their stomachs. The important looking man then spoke.
"Hilrumi Lardya Mem!" The man shouted in a loud bellowing voice, it didn't fit the way he looked. The voice sounded like he was perhaps in his 30's, and it suggested he was stronger than he looked also.
"I am sorry sir, I do not speak your language." Reeves quickly said.
"I understand." The man was suddenly much quieter and less full of energy, and appeared a little relieved, "you speak the language of the Writer!"
"Pardon?" Reeves honestly wasn't quite sure what the man had said. His D'ni had a very thick accent, and many hard consonants were almost silent.
"I said, you speak the language of the Writer. The man from the Book World! But tell me Bird Man, why do you speak with that tongue and not your own?"
"This is my language, and if you would please be so kind as to explain where I am at and why you keep calling me Bird man, I would like to be on my way."
"The Bird Men call it Eervism, the Writer called it Refuge, but we natives call it Sun's Child. If by where you meant this city."
"But who are the bird men?" Inquired Reeves, not caring that his first question was not answered the way he wanted it to be.
"They are those from the sky, they are the messengers from the sun god, they bring us culture, and we provide them with food and people."
"People?" asked Reeves, startled to hear this last one.
"Yes, they need people. For whatever reasons we do not dare to ask. If we do not obey them to the smallest detail, then they will make the sun god destroy us."
Suddenly disinterested in religious affairs Reeves bowed and turned to walk away, "If you don't object, I must find my way back home." Reeves said.
The man then suddenly stood and rushed up to where Reeves was walking.
"But Bird Man, surely, you came for a reason! If not to check on our progress?" The important looking man asked.
Reeves stopped and stared the man in the eye and whispered to him, "I have no clue who I am, where exactly I am from, or why you keep calling me Bird Man. But if I am one of these Bird Men, surely I will destroy you unless you help me answer all my questions."
At this the man suddenly looked terrified, then suddenly appeared full of joy. He whispered something to the boy and then gestured to the people to resume their party. "Tonight, you will stay with me and my family. This is my son, Morek RoGhen, I am Master Gorn RoGhen. You will meet the rest of my family tonight, and we will help you unravel your mysteries."
…
Reeves realized that the city was even bigger than he had imagined. The City was multiple levels, the buildings were all designed like apartments, and each one had catwalks, stairs, or ladders, leading to different levels of the city.
On his journey through the city he realized that much of the art in the city had a slight D'ni flair to it. Most things were built out of rock, and there were many people reciting poems, writing books, or drawing.
Reeves was now more curious then ever as to where he was, and who these people were. Their style of clothing was what separated the people most though. There were few people dressed like Gorn, including his son, but then there were people in the same style of clothing, but wearing cloths of different colors.
As they came to the center of the city, and closer to the palace, Reeves started seeing a few people wearing Guild's clothes, albeit very old and ancient versions. However they did not wear D'ni goggles as they should be.
Reeves looked up to see where he was, and saw that the palace exterior was made out of a bright white material, yet similar to the texture of Nara. In the failing light of the night it reflected an almost blue color. It was designed to look almost like the library in D'ni, but with its own additions.
When they stepped inside a few people dressed in a light blue greeted them. Their clothes were designed like Guilds clothes, but did not have any symbols.
"Master RoGehn, we were not aware you were having guests tonight. Shall we prepare a feast?" One of them asked.
"Of course! A grand one! For tonight, we are dining with a Bird Man!" Gorn replied in a very extravagant manner.
As soon as one of them heard this they bowed low to the ground and slowly walked backward until they disappeared behind a door.
The inside of the palace was huge. Stairways went up and down, spiraled in every direction, and some seemed to lead straight into a wall. There were hallways, filled with pictures of important looking people that seemed to be ancestors of Gorn's.
But what caught Reeves' eye the most, was that on the floor was a giant drawing of a tree, with its roots exposed. Surrounding the tree were many languages written around in a circle. Only one of which he understood, "The Root of the Great Tree Provides for Us." Was written in a very ancient form of D'ni.
Reeves was focused so intently on this that he did not notice the other people in the room. Slowly he walked to the tree and reached deep into his mind, trying to remember where he had seen the picture before.
Quietly he stared not moving, not even blinking, and completely focused on the picture before him. His mind struggled to understand what was in front of him. Suddenly he felt a strong twitch on the back of his neck, which traveled to his stomach, and with a sickening lurch, everything went black.