The Gem Lords

The Conference - Part 3

     Thomas would have liked to just teleport to the Ruby Keep there and then, but he couldn't just disappear without any explanation. He had become a member of the University faculty, a valued member of staff, and he had to tie up a lot of loose ends first.

     Just as importantly, he had to make his goodbyes to the friends he'd made. Once he left, it was unlikely he'd ever be returning, except to pay the occasional visit once his son's training resumed, by which time his friends might themselves have left. Also, Saturn had stated his intention to come with him, and Thomas knew that if he tried to leave him behind the elder wizard would simply follow, even if it meant tracking him down to Haven, which he was fully capable of doing if he really set his mind to it. Saturn had his own preparations to make before he could leave, though, and when he stated the reason for his absence several other senior wizards declared that they also wanted to know more about the Gem Lords. In the end, Thomas had to attend a gathering of the University's senior staff, to brief them on the matter.

     The sight of all the senior wizards gathered around the table caused Thomas a quaver of apprehension. He'd seen most of them before and had a pretty good idea what to expect. Natan Crowley, the Director, talking in a low voice to Saturn, who'd taken a seat beside him. Seskip Tonn, the Head Proctor, who was eyeing him with his unblinking, reptilian eyes as if he were a beetle he was about to gulp down. Pondar Walton, now so bent and stooped that the top of his head hung lower than his curving back. He was gazing at him balefully as if he'd been brought before them to answer for some terrible crime.

     There were also a couple of others he'd never seen before, although he recognised the description of Kalda Mot, the current director of extra planar studies. The post Elmias Pastin had once held. No doubt he'd been brought in to evaluate what Thomas was able to tell them of the Realms; the artificial continuum in which the Gem Lords resided.

     Thomas waited by the door as Saturn introduced him, in accordance with University tradition, and then he came forward to take the empty place at the table and begged their leave to place certain facts before them. The Director tapped a wand against the edge of the table as he considered, taking exactly seven and a half seconds which the Master of Ceremonies counted off silently on his fingers, and then he gave the younger wizard his permission to proceed.

     Thomas stood there as he began a detailed account of everything that had happened to him since his first visit to the Ruby Keep, twenty six years before. He told of the great lengths to which the Gem Lords had gone to bring him there during his search for the Scrolls of Skava, and his suspicions that something had been done to him while he'd been there. Then he told of the dreams he'd had at intermittent intervals over the next few years. The images of embryonic dragons growing in tanks of nutrient solution and of a group of powerful, important people gathered to discuss a terrible crisis that was descending upon them.

     Then he told of the memories of Tak's life that had begun to emerge in the past couple of years, although he said nothing of having told Saturn about them during their voyage to the Southern Continent. The other wizards present would want to know why Saturn hadn't pursued the matter there and then, and Thomas didn't want Saturn any angrier with him than he already was. Instead, he simply repeated Saturn's theory that he'd acquired the memories from another crewmember, telling it as though he'd thought of the idea himself and had been so convinced of it that he hadn't felt it necessary to bother the elder wizard.

     "But recently you realised that these memories were of a wizard who'd lived in the pre-Amafrykan era," said Seskip Tonn, staring at him suspiciously. "Why didn't you report it then?"

     "I was scared," replied Thomas truthfully. "This was an externum, and I didn't know how you'd react. All those outsider spells. Primitive versions of spells that are still considered dangerous to use today. All in my head."