Maker of Fire

Emily, the environs of Is'syal

We started at the reservoir in the mountains to the east of Is'syal, which was originally a natural lake. There was an earthen dam with a stonework penstock to feed the aqueduct. A spillway fed the natural outlet of the lake, which was a tributary river of the Salt River. The work looked old, but the city kept it well maintained.

The so-called valves were truly primitive gate valves, but they worked, though they all leaked a bit. From what the watermaster said, the system was hundreds of years old.

I guessed there were hundreds of meters of hydraulic head. Someone would need to survey the aqueduct to know how many. Without that knowledge, I wouldn't be able to calculate the internal pressure for designing some air bleed valves.

It turned out that I was exactly right about the cause of the lack of flow. I asked the Queen if there was a way she could sense water or air inside the pipe. She thought about it for a few minutes and then started to look inside. She said she used a charm of light inside the aqueduct and clairvoyance. She saw air pockets at seven of the eleven local maxima in the line. Some pockets were small, she said, but three were very large, including the one after the repaired line crossed the Rig River.

The charm to bleed the air was interesting, but I had to question that name. Calling it Schrodinger's charm was just too provocative. Did a reincarnated person from Earth name the charm after the physicist Schrodinger and his famous cat? Or did one of those pesky eleven gods name it as a joke? I asked the Queen but she did not know.

At the first air pocket, we heard the roar of escaping air followed by a fountain of water that soaked us to the skin. It was fortunate that we were with the Queen who dried us off with magic. I have to admit that I was developing a well-baked case of envy toward magic users. They had so many useful charms to make hot water, dry clothes, create light, induce deep sleep, remove wounds and burns, cast warmth, build protective perimeters, and so much more. Yep, I suffered from envy after living with Cosm for the last season and a half.

I located two leaks in the aqueduct. All it took was observing the water-friendly plants along the path of the buried water line. It shocked me that the watermaster did not know this. Well, he knows now because I showed him what to look for. I found what looked like camas lilies in those wet soil spots. I wasn't entirely sure because the flowers were no longer in bloom. I dug some up. The bulbs looked like purplish onions, which convinced me they were camas lilies. I tossed a few in the canvas bag Oyyuth packed this morning. The Queen gave me grief for digging in the dirt.

We even had time to stop for an afternoon meal. Asgotl is a saint since he insisted that the Queen bring some of the liver paté I liked. We stopped on a hill with a good view of the city and stuffed our faces. We could see the staggering damage of the flood from where we ate. The sight of all those fields with drowned crops was sobering.

When we arrived back at the storage tank under the parade ground, the water pouring in from the aqueduct threatened to overflow the tank. The gleeful watermaster opened the gate valves to restore pressure to the upper city and flush the mains in the lower city.

I mentioned that the city could achieve backflow protection in the future by installing check valves. That was a big mistake. I should learn to keep my thoughts to myself because somehow I got coerced into designing both check valves and air bleed valves for the water system. A design to replace those ancient gate valves was also on the to-do list. The biggest problem I faced for designing new valves was finding a practical way to cut threads. All the old gate valves had hand-cut threads so each set of threads was different.

It was hardly fair since I was a chemistry geek, not a mechanical engineer. I'm sure a real mechanical engineer would be laughing at my miserable efforts.

In a way, I found it a lot of work for no gain since, despite all this effort, I was still no closer to getting flush toilets back into my life. Nor was I making any progress on anything else that mattered to me. By the end of the excursion, I was feeling out-of-sorts and frustrated.

The Queen and the watermaster had fallen into a detailed discussion of maintenance, staffing, budgets, and all that sort of arcane knowledge. I never really cared for any of that management stuff. I quietly exited the valve house and climbed the difficult-to-climb over-sized steps up to the parade ground proper. Asgotl was up on the parade ground waiting since there was no way he could get into the valve house. He was lying down, soaking up the late afternoon sunlight.

"Hey, girlfriend, you look unhappy," the griffin tilted his head to look at me. I shrugged. Being mute made it hard to hold a conversation since Asgotl didn't know how to read.

"It's too late in the day to go for a ride," Asgotl remarked, "or I'd make off with you. It would be fun to go find some fish, or maybe some nifty rocks."

His concern was touching. Unfortunately, there was still a flood in progress. The water was lower than it was last night. Where the flood water had receded, it left behind a blanket of sediment mixed with debris. It looked like the crops in the flood zone would be a total loss.

As I was scanning across the landscape, I spotted motion. I saw a line of trees, the ones commonly used as windbreaks. The trunks were still submerged, but the tops were out of the water. In one of the trees, I saw someone, no, two someones waving.

I smacked Asgotl on the flank and motioned for him to put his head down.

"What do you want, Emily? I don't understand."

I pointed out into the floodwaters then waved my arms like someone waving for help. I did it a couple of times before he understood.

"You saw someone needing a rescue in the floodwaters, yes?"

I scooped my hand for yes and nodded.

"Griffins are not what you need because we can't wing brake to hover like roc eagles can, so I probably can't get them, but you can show me the place. Then I'll be able to lead help to the spot."

I nodded, climbed up, and strapped myself into the saddle. Asgotl took off in the general direction I had pointed to, north and a little east, to where the Rig and Salt Rivers came together, in a place that was now one big lake. Smacking my hand to give Asgotl directions left it feeling sore, but I got him to the line of trees where he saw them for himself.

It was a Cosm boy and girl. Neither of them had a spot of clothes on, but that's not unusual for people caught in a violent flood. The two kids were in the branches above the water. I had to wonder how long they had been there. I waved at them so they would know I had seen them. They were yelling and waving now. I wished we could pluck them out of the tree, but at least Asgotl could muster some real help for them when we got back to the city.

"Oh ..e ee.. s el.." Asgotl tried to tell me something but I couldn't understand. It must have been important enough for him to try. What I didn't understand was why he was flying in a circle around the tree and not returning to the city. Then I realized he was marking the location for help was already in the air. I started looking back toward Is'syal to see if I could spot flying mounts.

Sure enough, I spotted two dots flying our way. Then I couldn't believe my eyes. Was this a badly-plotted Japanese isekai novel or what? One of those dots resolved to Usruldes and Cadrees and the other into the King on a griffin. Then I spotted four more dots in the distance. This was ridiculous. Usruldes and Imstay joined us in the circling pattern, apparently waiting for the other four dots, which eventually resolved into eagles carrying four silverhaired women wearing purple riding tunics.

When those four were almost upon us, Cadrees started air braking above the tree. I was gobsmacked when the two children started floating upward. Each one was plucked out of the air into the arms of a purple-clad silverhair and then we all flew back to the city. By the time we got there, Usruldes had vanished. I wasn't surprised.

Asgotl landed in the House of Mounts forecourt, which was already busy with landings and departures. Regardless, the Queen was waiting, her arms folded, giving the two of us quite a look. The King landed next to us and so did all the eagles. Citadel guards with blankets ran over to the two eagles carrying the children.

I undid my riding straps but I decided to stay put until the forecourt thinned out. With this small mob of flying mounts and Cosm, it would be easy to get stepped on. The Queen made her way through the crowd like an icebreaker. Then one of the purple-tunic silverhairs came over.

"This is the second time the two of you have run off," the Queen was trying to look stern at us and wasn't succeeding.

"Oh, I see," the purple-tunic said. I recognized her. Her name was Fassex from the Landa Shrine. It took a second for me to make the connection since her hair was up and she was in riding clothes and not in ceremonial robes. "I was wondering how a Coyn could be riding a griffin alone, but now it's clear. It's unusual for a griffin to form a second bond, and even more unusual for it to be with someone with no magic, but bonds of affection are possible for griffins. It's happened before."

"I'm pretty sure it happened the second time they met," the Queen said.

"Fascinating." Fassex smiled at Asgotl. "Just when I think there is nothing more to see in this life, life comes along to surprise me."

"Are you alright up there, Emily?" Asgotl asked. I thumped the signal for yes.

"Just wondering since you hadn't gotten off yet," he explained.

"Oh! Hand signals," Fassex's eyebrows went sailing up into her hairline.

"These two criminals worked those out between themselves the first time they snuck off without telling anyone," the Queen said with begrudging humor.

"Oho! Really? And what sort of trouble did they get into?" Fassex was amused.

"They went fishing," we were now the victims of one of the Queen's looks of long-suffering patience. I was doing my best to look innocent. Fassex laughed.

"Fishing?" Imstay asked, walking up to us. "Your griffin and that little bundle of trouble went fishing and didn't tell you? Pffffft!"

"It's not that funny," the Queen said with a very sour look.

"Oh yes, it is," Imstay slapped his thigh and laughed with Fassex.

General Lynhaydras walked up, one eyebrow up and poised at the sour Queen and the laughing King and high priestess. Then she put her hand on my knee, "Great One, I was told you are the person who spotted those two children who the Landa adepts just brought in; and Asgotl, the Queen's griffin, went with you to mark the location."

I nodded.

"Asgotl, Great One, I thank you both for doing that. You both did well, you two." She did a bowing obeisance and headed off.

"Yes, that was well done," said Fassex. "You have sharp eyes, Great One," she looked up at me. Sitting on Asgotl, my eyes were just a smidge higher than hers. "And thank you, Great One", Fassex did a bowing obeisance to the Queen, "for alerting us about those children."

"All I did was speed up the rescue, Fassex," the Queen said quietly. "These two were getting ready to fly back to the city to muster help when I mindcasted Asgotl. I really didn't do anything."

"Hmph, if you say so, Aylem," Fassex shook her head. "Well, at least I was finally able to see the infamous Usruldes the Wraith in action. This is the first time I have ever set eyes on him. What a marvelous feat of magic that was. Just marvelous. And he did it without a crystal, which is astounding. I want to know how he did that. Imstay King, can you please send him to me so I can understand how he did that?"

"I will ask him," Imstay said, "but I will not command him. He is self-taught and a bit self-conscious about it. Don't spread that around please."

"I can give discreet tutoring, Imstay King, for a talent like that. I can keep my mouth shut too."

"Oh, little Emily," a musical bass on the other side of Asgotl sang softly, "are you coming home with me for dinner?"

"Hessakos?" the queen noticed him. "Dinner? I was hoping to have dinner with Emily."

"And also me," Fassex said. "It's why I came over, to invite her."

Oy! This was a bit much.

Imstay looked up at me, "you want to go home with Hessakos, don't you?" He winked at me. I nodded. That cheerful family was much easier on me than the birdcage of the Queen's apartments. The Queen's face fell when I nodded.

"Aylem," Imstay put his hand on her arm, "I don't want to ruin your evening but I need your help. We need to get an inventory of damages down the river, plus how much of the grain crop is lost, and where the grain shipments are on the new road from the eastern valleys. I need to ask you: please come with me to the Shrine of Tiki and use the great crystal for us.

The Queen deflated, "yes, let me tell my house guest. Then we can leave right away." She turned to me and Asgotl, "the two of you are still in the hot pot." She delivered a very unconvincing glare. I tried not to laugh. Asgotl snickered.

"Houseguest?" Hessakos blinked. "Do you mean Priestess Healer Thuorfosi? She can stay at my place since she's one of Emily's healers. I can convey the message, Great One."

"That will work, though she's probably still at the shrine working with the injured." The Queen turned and picked me up off of Asgotl, "Emily, I need my griffin back." She put me on the ground in the middle of a forest of too many knees, thighs, and rear ends.

"Blarg!" The Queen picked me back up. "Sorry, dear heart, that was my mistake. It's too crowded right now." She stepped around Asgotl, "Hessakos, will you take Emily, please.

"Of course."

So I landed in Hessakos' arms. I was beginning to feel like a ball passed from player to player. Just when I started to feel better around Cosm, they did something like this to unnerve me all over again.

"Patience, little one," Hessakos whispered to me, "I'll get you out of here as quick as I can."

With various shouted last-minute instructions and farewells, the Queen, King, and their griffins disappeared south, leaving me, Hessakos, and Fassex.

"Are you comfortable, little one, or do you want to sit on my arm instead?" Hessakos asked.

I motioned yes then no with my hand.

"If you need to change position, just punch me on the chin" he paused and grinned, "if you can reach it."

I bopped him on the chin for that.

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