Hishik BW XXXVI
BWXXXVI – Hishik’s Vision
“Now what?” asked a large, muscle-bound man with part-braided red-blonde hair, large, keen, blue eyes and well-defined features. Dressed in a bright shirt of mithril mail, partly covered by a white tabard with a golden prancing horse on the chest, he had presence and immediately commanded authority, despite his relaxed demeanour. Facing the man was his complete opposite. He was similar in stature to a dwarf but with a broad, round, bald head that sported a long plaited white beard. Bigger than a gnome, yet not entirely dwarf-like, Hishik knew this to be Orodruin. He was dressed in a mushroom coloured, ermine- trimmed coat, fastened with jet buttons and loose fitting, white, woollen trousers, tucked into high, soft leather boots. His care-lined face was far from youthful and he bent heavily on staff of oak, entwined with all manner of mystical devices. He was undoubtedly old, but how old Hishik could not fathom. “Well, I think I understand what Cronos has given us,” he replied.
“Which is?” the tall man asked sceptically.
Orodruin held a disk in the palm of his hand, which comprised an outer ring of precious metal joined in four places to a flattened sphere, made of platinum, uppermost on which was an eye in the centre of an ornately crafted pyramid. The eye glowed gently amber. As he answered the question, the gnome squeezed the outer ring and lifted the casement, which swung to one side revealing a series of concentric circles each divided into blocks and covered in strange runes. “A tool that can move time forwards or backwards, but it will only work within one complete lunar cycle on the Prime.” As he spoke, he indicated the inner workings of the mechanism, gently pressing a block and rotating it along its ring smoothly. “On other Planes,” he continued, “it may have different effects depending on how important time is. For example, time is not important on Limbo, so I doubt if this will have any effect at all.”
As brutish as the man looked, Hishik realised that he had understood everything. “How does it work?” he asked watching the Gnome’s movements intently.
“Wielded by one of the chosen ones, in the company of and with the agreement of their dragon, one simply opens it and dials in the appropriate date.” The Gnome rotated one of the dials whilst holding up the device so that the human could see it more clearly. “By holding here,” he explained, “I can focus the time down to the fraction of the correct lunar cycle; whether that is day or night is determined in hourly symbols here and finally the exact time is set here. Once it has been collaborated to the Plane whose time one needs to alter, and then set, all one has to do is close the lid and hope.”
“What is the catch?”
“Well, it does not have enough power to extend very far into the past or the future and it is subject, to some extent, to the will of the Gods - all Gods affected. You couldn’t use this on Tarterus to return to a time when Cronos was free for example.”
“How would you know the will of the Gods?”
“I presume, simply, whether it works or not.”
“This must be kept safe my friend, if it is that simple to work, it must not fall into the wrong hands.”
“Agreed, but where?”
“Nowhere near Lastar; if Anubis hears of this, Lastar is doomed.”
“Agreed again, but that doesn’t narrow it down; besides, we will need to know what happens at Locklastar, so that a message can get to me swiftly. If necessary, I will try to reverse time to the moment Lastar and I were together discussing all this in Sutur.”
“So, thou art to be close to Locklastar, but not actually there. I know little of Amorsland, but thy relatives abide there, do they not?”
“They do, distant ones, but I have helped them with their craft in Yarlug and Mordrass. Further to the south, there are also the descendants of Sylph who possess great knowledge and wisdom. So, I will take this artefact and hide it in the Ruergrim.”
“Where, precisely, Orodruin?”
“Ah, let me see,” the gnome paced, running the fingers of his left hand through his beard. “As I recall, the western-most peak of the range has a distinctive crooked point. There is an old goblin stair that leads to a ledge just below that crooked point. On the rock wall at the back of that ledge is a hidden door, which leads to steep stair that descends into the mountain. I will leave a sign for you to follow – a verse or runes – at the top of the stair. But this will not be necessary – I do not intend for this to leave my side.”
“Well, Orodruin-friend, the future is never certain. My advice, for what it is worth, is go directly to Amorsland and find this safe place. Thou cannot know what mischief is done this day.”