The Kallanon Scales Read Free Page A

Thane goes on sabbatical taking the original Medaillon with
him. It is likely he went to help and was murdered also.”
    “That is what
we figured,” Kisha said.
    “Cressel was
murdered in Farinwood,” Torrullin said, “and Merle fled. The Mantle
didn’t know of the baby, she clearly tried to protect you. She
stayed on a farm between Farinwood and Galilan for a few
months.”
    “Did she die
there?” Kylan asked. That was not in the report.
    “She was found
on the way to Galilan.”
    “How were they
killed?”
    “Cressel was
trampled by a horse. He survived the mauling by two days, telling
the authorities it wasn’t an accident. He had no idea who did
it.”
    Kylan
swallowed. “And my … Merle?”
    Torrullin
stared at the table. “Her throat was slit and she put up a mighty
fight. I am sorry.”
    “No wonder you
said nothing.”
    “How do you
know this?” Kisha asked.
    “The
authorities closed the files, but the Mantle went on with it.
Eventually we admitted defeat. Those files form part of the inner
archives.”
    “Where are
they?”
    “I studied
them after you asked about your parents Kylan, and that is all
there is.” Torrullin shrugged when Kylan continued to stare at him.
“At the Keep.”
    “You still
keep secrets.”
    “Part of who I
am.”
    “You will want
to study them after I tell you the rest.”
    “You may be
right. What of this map?”
    “I couldn’t
make it out. M-something-something, O and R. We looked for mention
of strange maps, actual maps, and redid stuff we already waded
through. Eventually we found another letter, from Ugarth of the
Society after Drasso. He wrote to his daughter about a glimpse of a
map Shannon had in his possession …”
    “Shannon was a
first rank sorcerer,” Torrullin interrupted. “I seem to recall he
told a tale of another race and possessed a map to prove it. Kylan,
a long time passed between Shannon, Ugarth and your parents.”
    “I would
agree, but Ugarth mentioned the Mysor, which fits with Merle’s
spelling. I’m not saying it’s the same map, but could be. It was
lost and Cressel found it. Did Shannon die of natural causes?”
    Torrullin
released an explosive breath. “Shannon was found in a ditch with
eyes gouged.”
    “There must be
a link,” Kisha stated.
    “You suggest a
millennia old conspiracy.”
    “Older. There
is more on this map, further back.”
    Torrullin
rubbed at his face and waited. They would get to the part that
brought him. He had to understand the process, the background, and
they knew that. Besides, he was not in a hurry. He felt better for
being outdoors.
    “We found a
diary of Father Rees in Gasmoor,” Kylan said.
    “Rees of Round
Temple fame?”
    “The same. His
dates run 256 a.s. to 329 a.s. and we assume that to mean ‘after
settlement’,” Kisha said.
    “Dropped
around year 500.”
    “Father Rees
spoke of a map, but was unsure, called it a treasure map, an
astrochart, and further down, ley lines. He called it a Mysor map,”
Kylan said.
    Kisha added,
“Somewhere, somehow, there is a mysterious chart that causes
trouble.”
    Torrullin
nodded. “Most odd, but I doubt this is why you called. Murders old
and ancient are one thing, no offence, and strange indeed if
committed over a map, but carries no urgency.”
    “Urgency lies
in the connections,” Kisha murmured.
    “A key is
mentioned in an anonymous poem we found last night,” Kylan said.
“We called Vannis because it’s in Valleur.”
    Torrullin
frowned. “Do you have it?”
    Kisha went
indoors to return with a folded square. Recycled paper, treated, as
the Valleur did in the old days.
    “Where did you
find this?”
    “Aven’s
papers,” Kylan said.
    Aven, passed
on twelve years, was teacher and mentor during Torrullin’s time at
the Mantle. He was also surrogate father, and missed dearly. Lycea
said so a few days ago at the Graveyard, for she was Aven’s ward,
rescued off the streets of Galilan.
    “Lycea gave
Aven’s stuff to us,”