Aiko and Ferret looked to Arin, and she said, "We came to these archives seeking aid, seeking knowledge."
The man snorted. "There are any number of scholars herein. Why me?"
Arin glanced at Aiko, and the Ryodoan said, "I chose you, sage, for you are safe."
"Safe?"
"So I was told," answered Aiko, touching her chest.
"Who sent you?"
"None," replied Arin. "We came on our own."
For the first time, the 'alim looked her squarely in the face, as if seeking a sign that she spoke truly. Arin gazed back at him, and he lowered his eyes.
"This knowledge you seek, why do you want it?"
Now Arin hesitated, but Aiko nodded, and the Dylvana said, "We follow a rede in the hopes of diverting disaster."
The scholar nodded, then asked, "And what does the sketch have to do with the rede?"
Again Arin glanced at Aiko, and again the golden warrior nodded. Arin sighed, then said, "We are not certain, yet it may be a vital link to something we seek."
Silence fell within the chamber, the sage considering what he had heard. Finally, as if he had made up his mind, he said, "You were fortunate to have chosen to come to me, for I am one of the few who will not report you and the knowledge you seek to the imamin of the Fists of Rakka."
"Fists of Rakka?"
"An arm of the ascendant religion in Aban. They believe they know the one true way."
Ferret raised her eyebrows. "The one true way?"
The sage glanced at. the doorway and then intoned, "There is no God but Rakka. Fear Him and obey Him, for
He is the Lord of all." The scholar sighed. "It is but one of many 'one true ways.' "
Aiko grunted, then asked, "What has this to do with our mission?"
"Just that the thing you seek is but another 'one true way,' though this one has been driven into hiding."
Ferai unfolded the sketch and slid it across the table to him. "These symbols, are they Sarainese or Hurnian?"
"Hurnian?" The sage took up the paper. "Ah, yes, I see; to the untutored eye they are much the same. No, no, the inscription above the door, it is written in Sarainese and it names a place: Mikdash Hamavokh-the Temple of the Labyrinth." He slid the sketch back to Ferai.
Arin leaned forward. "And this temple, what dost thou know of it?"
"Just that it is said that decades past the niswan imamin min Ilsitt took refuge there from persecution."
"Nis-nis-" Ferret paused and shook her head. "What did you just say?"
"Niswan imamin min Ilsitt," replied the sage. "It means the women priests of Ilsitt."
"Ilsitt?"
"She is a goddess and goes by many names: Ilsitt, Shailene, Elwydd-"
"Elwydd!" exclaimed Arin.
The sage nodded.
"Is she also named Megami?" asked Aiko.
The sage shrugged. "Perhaps. Though I've not heard that name before."
"What about this god Rakka?" growled Ferai. "Does he go by many names as well?"
"Indeed," replied the scholar. "Rakka, Huzar-"
"Gyphon?" interjected Arin.
Without looking at her, the sage nodded.
Arin exhaled a long sigh, then said, "This Temple of the Labyrinth… how do we find it?"
The scholar took up the large vellum scroll and rolled it open upon the table and sat inkpots at each corner to hold it flat. It was a map. He stabbed a finger down to the parchment. "Here is Aban, and here"-he slid his finger in a straight line across the map-"to the east lies this maze, and somewhere within is the temple."
"Maze?" Ferret frowned. "But this section of the map is blank."
"Not quite," said the sage, pointing to a faint irregular boundary. "This is its extent."
Inscribed within the faded tracery were added Sarainese symbols:
"What do these mean?" asked Ferret, pointing to the ornate characters.
"Um, Mevokh Hashed-the Demon's Maze."
"Demon?"
"A number of years past, it is said that the labyrinth became haunted by a demon. Sent there by Rakka to punish the unbelievers, or so claim the Fists of Rakka."
Ferret looked at Arin. The Dylvana merely turned up her hands. Then Arin said, "This maze, this labyrinth, what is it?"
"A great area of entangled canyons," replied the scholar. "Cut by rivers long past, say some; land fractured by wrathful gods shaking the world, say others; a realm broken by great stones from the sky, claim others still. As to which of these are true, or if it is something else altogether, I cannot say."
Arin nodded. "These canyons, this labyrinth, how extensive are they?"
"Your measure is the mile?"
"That or the league, three miles to each."
The sage consulted a scale on the map, then took the measure of the blank area within the irregular bound. "I make it some hundred or so miles east and west, and"-he took another measure-"nearly half again as much north and south-one hundred fifty miles in all."
"And this temple, where does it lie?"
The sage shrugged. "It is hidden."
Arin blew out her breath and then, judging by the width across the faded bounds and then measuring how far to the east of Aban the blank area lay, Arin said, "Some thirty-five leagues to the marge. Is the route to the labyrinth direct?"
The sage nodded. "Yes. But I would not advise-"
Ferret blurted, "But Dara, that's a vast area to search. A hundred and fifty miles by a hundred. That makes it, um, let me see… um-"
"Fifteen thousand square miles," supplied the sage, "or thereabout."
"Elwydd's grace!" declared Ferret, which brought a start from the scholar, and he glanced at her and then away. But she did not notice the effect her oath had had upon the sage, and she turned to Arin and said, "I cannot even imagine what fifteen thousand square miles is, much less how long it would take to search it out, given that it is a maze. We'll be a lifetime at it!"
Aiko shook her head. "Dara Arin has a way with mazes."
"Mayhap," murmured Arin. "Mayhap not."
"As I started to say," interjected the sage, "I would advise against going to the maze. It is a horrid place. Nothing but fractured stone. And barren. No plants. No water. No wildlife."
Aiko stared impassively at the scholar, then asked, "If that is true, then how do these priestesses of Ilsitt survive?"
The sage looked toward the beaded curtain, then leaned forward and whispered, "It is said that Ilsitt yet has believers within Sarain. Perhaps they bear supplies to the maze, perhaps to the temple itself."
"Then there may be a trail, Dara," said Aiko.
"You are bound to do this thing?" asked the sage.
"Aye," replied Arin.
The 'alim sat long moments in silence, looking at the map and then at the sketch before Ferret. Finally he said, 'Then here is an entry." He tapped at a place on the map along the faded boundary. "The Island in the Sky. It is the point of a plateau projecting into the maze."
"But that's somewhat north; aren't there any places closer where we may enter?" asked Ferret.
"Indeed there are," said the sage, "but I would think this a better place."
Arin looked steadily at the scholar, but he would not meet her gaze. The Dylvana then glanced at Aiko, and the Ryodoan canted her head and shrugged.
Arin sighed, then said, "Well and good, sage. Is there aught else thou wouldst advise?"
"Three things." He turned and addressed Ferai. "Call not upon Ilsitt by any of her names, be they Elwydd, Shailene, Megami, or aught else, for unfriendly ears may overhear. In fact, I would not call upon any gods if I were you, any of you." He paused and glanced at each of them, and added, "Too, veil your faces ere you leave this city, else someone inland less liberal than I may haul you before an imam and demand that you be stoned as harlots."
Aiko growled and narrowed her eyes, but Arin nodded. "And the third thing…?"