Sentria: The Age of Adventure (Book 2)

Chapter Eleven: The Cliffs of Renmar

We took the energist up on his offer. I was wary of him still, but our carriage was worse for the wear and our options were limited. The back wheels were dented which made it harder for the horses to pull, and the carriage itself had taken on structural damage. If he could fix this within the hour with his scientific skill, that would help us considerably.

I sat in the driver's seat of the carriage next to him. He called himself Master Cabel and he was rather personable if not a bit off. He looked at everything with excitement as if it was his first time seeing it and he laughed even when there was only silence. I held onto the reins, but I kept glancing over at him, making sure he didn't pull out any dangerous weapons from his brown coat.

"Where are you from, Master Cabel?" I asked.

"Here!" he said, raising his hands into the air. "I was born in Sentria many decades ago. In my youth, I was a goldsmith at Fox Hall until Master Indus came and convinced me to be his apprentice. I agreed and I've been here ever since!"

"And what is it that you do?" I asked the kook.

"I make magic out the science of course!" he said, as if his words were normal. "All things are made of elements—energy. I harness them to create everything from weapons to potions."

"I've heard rumor that energists are able to bring the dead back to life. Is that so?" I turned to him slowly, as if I didn't really want to know the answer.

"Some dabble in the darker arts," Master Cabel said. "But you can trust me! I never experiment on people. What brings you all this way?"

"We are going to Loria in hopes or receiving aid against the Cordathian threat. We need their forces now more than ever."

"Ah, yes. It's about that time. The stars always foretell these things."

We came up to his tower on the Cliffs of Renmar. Below it was the Ansel River running below that continued onto Loria. His tower was gray and modest and puffs of black smoke rose up from its chimney to the sky. I stopped the carriage in front of his broken gate and told Eldwyn and Prince Lucas to come out.

"Go inside as I see to your carriage," said Master Cabel, still in the driver's seat. "I don't mind if you look around. Just keep your hands to yourself!"

I nodded to him and we hesitantly walked through the gate and up the cracked pathway to his front door. There were scraps of metal all over—gears and half-finished inventions littered his lawn without any sense of order.

"This man has lost his mind..." said Prince Lucas.

"I think he's extraordinary," said Eldwyn. "Anyone who devotes themselves to understanding how life works deserves to be commended."

I entered the tower first and looked all around to make sure it was safe. It was dark and windowless, only the candles and the burning logs from the fireplace brought light to this creepy place. There were tables with bubbling liquids in test tubes, a bin with metal scraps, bookshelves filled with old books, jars of various insects, and oddly-shaped experimental tools.

"This is a madhouse..." said Prince Lucas.

"It is a laboratory," Eldwyn said.

"How do you know that word, Eldwyn?" I asked, turning to him.

"I learned a great deal from the Wind Riders," he replied.

Prince Lucas walked over to a tube of blue liquid and peered inside of it. "Is this place even allowed?"

"It's technically in Loria," I said. "Sentria doesn't allow any unauthorized practices, but they're right before the border."

"Loria has always been more open than our realms," said Prince Lucas, holding up a vial. "Their openness might lead to their downfall if they're not careful."