Quest for Knowledge (Volume 1 of the FirstWorld Saga), Christopher Jackson-Ash [ebook reader web TXT] 📗

must have secret information that would be useful to me. I’ll wait a couple more days until you are ready.”

She turned to leave, but the urge got the better of her. She turned back and walked over to the wizards. She gave each of them a couple of good kicks in the general area of their groins. She imagined that she was kicking Jack and Christopher and it made her feel so good.

Book 2 A Test of Courage

 

In which Simon Redhead will learn whether he truly is a manifestation of the Everlasting Hero.

 

“When the two who are one

Return to the sun

When the flame-haired child

Is first become

While the guardians sleep

Humankind will weep.”

Ancient Prophecy

The Quest is Defined

When Simon awoke, he was tucked up in his warm bed. His headache was gone. He was naked. Who undressed me? Jhamed sat in an easy chair by his bed, gently sucking on a pipe and blowing smoke rings. Not Jhamed, please? “What happened? How did I get here? Did you undress me?”

Jhamed laughed. “Don’t worry, my friend. You don’t have anything that I haven’t seen before. In fact, as heroes go, you have nothing to worry about in that department.” He laughed again at Simon’s blushes. “I have seen beetroots with paler complexions. You had a small seizure, brought on by the stress of the day, I shouldn’t wonder. Manfred organised a stretcher party to carry you here. The nurse has checked you out. You’ll be fine after a good rest.”

Jhamed remained silent for a while, puffing on his pipe. Simon tried to collect his thoughts. Very little seemed to make much sense and he struggled to differentiate between his dreams and his reality. Am I dreaming now? He struggled with the covers and sat up, embarrassed again by his skinny physique and white, hairless chest.

“How are you feeling?” Jhamed asked. “Are you feeling well enough to get up and meet the others for dinner? If you like, you can eat here instead, I’ll order a tray?”

“If you don’t mind, I’d rather stay here and try to understand what is happening. It’s all rather a shock. I still think I’ll wake up at home soon.” I don’t know whether I would prefer that or this. I have never had a fit before, I should see a doctor. But it cleared my head. “Could you order some food for us both and stay and talk with me?”

So it was that they spent a long evening talking over all of the things that they had learned that day. Jhamed filled in details, where he could. Dinner was again excellent and the wine that came with it made Simon feel relaxed and mellow. Manfred popped in at one stage to check on Simon’s well-being and they chatted about trivia, ignoring the topics that burned in Simon’s mind. After Manfred left, he could hold back no longer and just blurted it out. “Jhamed, what is your ancestry?”

Jhamed smiled. “You’ve been burning to ask that question all day, haven’t you? You always do. In the Beginning, the elves were supposed to represent Jeohab and the dwarves Satania. But the First and Second Born were too strong willed and the Children soon lost interest in their game. The only real results were that elves had lots of rules, dwarves couldn’t care less about rules and the two races hated each other. I think that the elves have gotten over it by now, but as you saw today, the dwarves still have very strong feelings.”

“It’s also to do with the fact that the two races have very different interests and priorities. The elves love sunshine, trees and fresh air. They live in the forests. All living things, even dwarves, are precious to them. They care deeply about the environment. The dwarves hate the sun and live in the dark, delving deep into the earth. They are motivated by amassing great wealth in the form of gold and jewels. They don’t care if their digging destroys the environment. Trees are meant to be chopped down to provide them with energy. Both races keep very much to themselves. Elves have very little to do with anyone else unless they really have to. Dwarves do have a passable relationship with humans, but only because they need to trade some of their treasures for food and other necessities. So it would be very unlikely, don’t you think, that a dwarf and an elf would ever fall in love?”

Simon had to agree, unlikely indeed. Jhamed was now in full flow. “My father, Gair son of Gale son of Gannon, was a dwarf and my mother, Kachina, was an elf. They were both unremarkable people, except that by chance they met and fell in love. They were both servants, on a mission with their superiors to Elannort. They were hurrying through the corridors, arms full, and ran into each other. Bits and pieces went flying. Quite a cliché. They were initially angry with each other, but they both saw the funny side of things and started laughing. One thing led to another and before you could say ‘Great Sage’ they had fallen madly in love. Their respective people were outraged, of course. There was even talk of war. The Great Sages intervened. They saw the possible union as a great advance for the Balance. They allowed my parents to stay in Elannort, where I was eventually born.”

“They told me that conception was very difficult. My father was very old by the time they had me and no further children were possible. They didn’t want to name me in either elfish or dwarfish fashion. The wizard Dammar suggested that I be called Jhamed al Suraqi, meaning Firstborn of the Balance in the ancient language of the Wise. Manfred always took a great interest in me. I was only a tiny baby when the Sundering took place. Manfred says that the fates must have intervened to ensure I was born before the Sundering. That meant there were many versions of me spread through the multiverse, unlike wizards who were returned to Melasurej and were not duplicated. You’ve already met one of them!”

“Exactly how old are you?” Simon interrupted.

“Well, you know that elves have very long life spans. Dwarves, on the other hand live only for about two hundred years. My father died when I was a child. I remember little about him, just a few memories of him bouncing me on his knee and me pulling on his long grey beard. And I remember his smell.” Jhamed paused for a moment and Simon thought he saw a tear in his eye. Jhamed didn’t know his father either.

“My mother lived a long life. She was already very old when I was born, but she lived for nearly another five thousand years. Thankfully, she died before the dark ages began. I grew and developed very slowly. Manfred says that I am a creature of the Balance and have inherited a lifespan that approaches or exceeds that of wizards. When my mother died, Manfred took me under his wing. I was really still a naïve youth at that stage. When he was exiled, I went with him and we spent many years wandering FirstWorld, doing what we could to preserve the Balance. Eventually, we returned to Wizards’ Keep. Nearly all of the wizards had passed to stone. The Keep was in disarray. We worked hard to re-establish it and Manfred began to study the ancient texts, which had previously been denied him. I discovered my talent for moving between the dimensions. I have been a wizard’s dogsbody ever since.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Very well, if you must know, on my last birthday, had I still been counting, I would have been thirty-one thousand two hundred and seventy-six years old. And you wonder why I could do with a rest?”

Simon was astounded. How could he live so long?

“And before you ask, yes I’m the only one of my kind. No, I have never married or had children, at least to the best of my knowledge! Manfred says that I’m unique and have a special role to play in the events to come. He usually says that when he wants me to do something particularly nasty or difficult for him. My role, other than dogsbody to wizards, as best as I can tell is to be a companion to the Everlasting Hero. I have spent many thousands of years chasing different versions of you through the multiverse. I have had this conversation with other versions of you countless times. Or another version of me has. Confusing isn’t it?”

Simon was indeed confused. “So there are multiple versions of you? Are they all the same? What about the Everlasting Hero?”

Jhamed sighed, like someone who had been asked this question many times before. “Whether the multiverse is infinite, I cannot say. Regardless, it’s very very large. Almost all probabilities seem to be possible. That means that there are potentially an infinite number of heroes and their companions. However, there is a fundamental difference between us. The Everlasting Hero is perhaps easier to understand. I don’t know why but somehow at just the right time in just the right place a hero emerges. Manfred says it’s genetic, whatever that means. I guess it somehow runs in families but can skip tens of generations, even more. There are minor heroes and major heroes and, I suppose, everywhere in between. They all look and behave differently. The Everlasting Hero is the pinnacle, the person you call on when all hope seems lost. You heard about Gilgamesh today. He was a manifestation of the Everlasting Hero, but as far as I can tell he’s not related to you. In the multiverse, there are many dimensions similar to your own. Each of them has or had a Simon Redhead similar to you. Manfred got it into his head that a Simon Redhead could be a manifestation of the Everlasting Hero and we could really do with one about now. It must be true because our enemies have been seeking you out as well. It’s not an easy job trawling the dimensions, even for someone as especially skilled as I am.”

Jhamed paused and looked at Simon. “Are you following this?”

Simon nodded and managed to stifle a yawn. “Keep going.”

“Well, even if all Simon Redheads are heroes of one description or another, only one can be the Everlasting Hero. We’ve been through most of them and here we are.” The gravity of Jhamed’s statement slowly registered in Simon’s sleepy brain.

“I’m different because I was around at the Sundering. For some reason that I don’t know and Manfred won’t speculate on, I’m special. Many Jhameds in many dimensions have lived out their lives and died without ever meeting a hero. Many have had families and their descendants look nothing like me; well not much and certainly not as handsome!” Jhamed laughed and Simon smiled at his friend's humour. “Some of my- their descendants may be companions too. Only I have the great lifespan that was spoken about today. In a few dimensions, close to FirstWorld, we found Jhameds who are relatively unchanged and very similar to me. They joined us in our quest. The last one of them was murdered by Dring in your dimension.” Simon wanted to ask about Dring but his eyelids seemed to have minds of their own.

Jhamed must have noticed Simon’s eyes beginning to glaze over again. This is going to do my head in! “I think we both need a rest now. Tomorrow will be another big day. We have made enormous progress today. We have finally found Gilgamesh’s heir. I know it’s hard to believe and understand, Simon, but you are the final incarnation of the Everlasting Hero. The future of the multiverse depends on you. I’m sorry it’s such a huge load to bear, but understand that I’ll be by your side to help