Free The Halfblood King: Book 1 of the Chronicles of Aertu by Julian Benoit Page A

the colors, little to no light is reflected and appears black or brown,” he explained.  “That is the best explanation that I have heard for it.  It was originally from a physical philosopher from the university at Kaas and I believe most scholars have adopted that view as well.”
    “That would make sense,” Aleron ventured, “since the waters were all glowing from within.  They were giving off light, not reflecting it.”
    “Did anything else happen with the white water?  Did you drink that as well?
    “Yes Grandfather, though I was not able to look directly at it, I dipped my cup in and drank.”
    “What happened then?”
    “After I drank, I could look directly into the white water.  Then, when I looked around, I could see into the minds of everyone in the garden.  I didn’t like what I saw in some of them, especially the ones at the red fountain.”
    “What did you see that you didn’t like,” Hadaras inquired.
    “I saw a lot of dark thoughts, especially with the red fountain people,” the boy continued, “but also at the other fountains too.  There were a few at the blue fountain that seemed pure, but not all.  I got the impression that the blue stood for order and the red stood for chaos.”
    “You said the red stood for chaos, but not evil?” Hadaras asked.
    “No, not evil, but the people with evil in their hearts were mostly drawn to that one.  It seemed like no one in the garden was completely evil.  Some just had more of it than others,” Aleron replied and then went on, “There were only a few who had none at all.  There was the tree thing and the keeper of the golden pool and a couple of the elves at the blue fountain.  They were the only ones with no evil, but there were none with no good at all,” he finished.
    “That certainly was an interesting dream, my boy.”
    “Do you think it means something?  I don’t usually remember dreams this well.”
    “I think this one definitely falls into the vision, over the dream, category,” Hadaras offered.  “I will need to think on it for awhile before I can make sense of it, though.”
    “Thank you for listening, Grandfather.  I have wanted to talk about it.  It seemed important, but I couldn’t make any sense of it.”
    Hadaras rode on thinking, Important, maybe, perhaps only as important as the unification of all the branches of magic.  What importance could that have?
     

 
    Chapter 8
     
    Corballday, Day 15, Growing Moon, 8760 Sudean Calendar
     
    The pair were riding through wooded, hilly country and had been all morning.  The forest alternated between dark conifer stands, where little light made it to the ground and brighter stands of hardwoods.  The overall prevalence of certain species indicated that this was no wild forest, but an intensely managed woodlot.  “Look, Aleron,” Hadaras said to get the boy’s attention, “do you see the holes in the bark of these maples surrounding us?”
    “Yes, I see them,” Aleron replied.  “They look like they were drilled.  Why would people drill holes in trees?”
    “They do it to drain the sap,” he explained.  “In the early spring, the local people here draw sap from the trees and drink it as a tonic.  There is enough sugar in the sap that they can boil it down to make a sort of beer, or even boil it down to make hard sugar.”
    “Sugar from trees?”  Aleron asked in disbelief.  “Why don’t they do that where we live?”
    “It has to do with the altitude, I’ve been told,” Hadaras related.  “We don’t have the right kind of maples, because it is too warm where we live.  Moreover, even where these grow, they need deep snow and a drawn out thawing period to produce much sap.  Up here, it takes a long time for winter to release its grasp.”
    “What happens if it thaws too quickly?  Doesn’t the sap run anyway?
    “From what I understand, it happens too quickly and they are not able to capture as much before it’s over.  But, in a completely