Shon had rehearsed how he would explain Tarun to his uncle, but the actual account of their meeting and subsequent activities took much longer than he expected because Grodin would ask questions along the way that Shon had not anticipated.

The longest of these tangents was at the beginning of the story when Shon explained that Tarun saved his life, Grodin wanted to know why Shon’s life was in danger in the first place. This led to Shon confessing to his uncle about the gamblers he had tried to cheat against with his magical mental abilities, followed by a lecture from Grodin about the importance of earning one’s money through honest, hard work.

Tarun sat quietly, most of the time, content to let Shon tell his story, except when Grodin asked questions directly to him. Tarun would answer those questions as plainly and honestly as he could, which seemed to please Grodin a great deal. As the account continued, Grodin interjected with more and more questions directed at Tarun.

At one point in the tale Grodin looked out the window at the low sun, and stood up, telling Tarun and Shon that he needed to finish up some things in the greenhouse before dark, and then they could continue. The two of them waited inside until they could see the stars begin to appear out the window, and Shon had to light a couple of candles inside. Shortly after the candles were lit, Grodin entered the house, urging them to continue their account.

By the time Shon had finished, the shorter of the two candles that Shon lit had melted itself into a puddle, and the longer of the two was near its end. Grodin sat in his chair for a few moments, staring into the candle flame and stroking his beard with a thoughtful expression. At length he said, “Thank you, both of you. I had heard much of this already through rumor, but other parts I hadn’t heard. In any case, I’m glad to finally hear it directly from the two of you.” He then turned and looked right into Tarun’s eyes. “So, you really have no idea who you are or where you come from, do you?” he asked.

Then, without waiting for an answer from Tarun, he said, “Well, I think you boys might need some help to solve this mystery. Hmm… I might have some ideas of how to proceed. Give me some time to think about it, and I’m sure I can figure something out. In the meantime, I think Tarun ought to come live with us, Shon. It will be a little cramped, but I don’t think any of us will spend much time here except to sleep anyhow. In any case, Tarun has stayed in the healer’s hut much longer than necessary, and that bed ought to be made available in case there is someone who really needs it.”

Grodin stood up, looking at Tarun and Shon with narrow eyes. “Really, boys,” he said, “Tam is an excellent healer, and she has a good heart, but I think you might have taken advantage a bit. Oh well, it doesn’t matter now. Just go tell Tam why Tarun won’t be returning tonight; she’s a worrier. I’ll have everything in shape here by the time you two get back.”

Shon exited the house, but as he left, Tarun stopped in the doorway and turned to Grodin. “Excuse me, Master Grodin,” Tarun began.

“Just Grodin, Tarun. Or Uncle Grodin, if you prefer,” interrupted Grodin.

“Uncle Grodin then,” continued Tarun, “I thank you for your concern, but I am not interested in where I come from.”

“Hmm,” said Grodin with curiosity, “Interesting.” Then waving Tarun away, he said, “Nevertheless, you will stay here until you choose to live somewhere else.”

 

 

Shon had once explained to Tarun how the main export of Life’s Edge was the fine glasswork created there. The incredibly fine sand contained virtually no impurities, so it was ideal for creating glass. “Besides,” Shon had said, “it’s pretty much limitless here so the raw materials cost practically nothing.”

Shon had further explained that Life’s Edge had been founded over a century earlier by a wealthy king who loved delicate glasswork, and had been willing to pay workers to dig the exceedingly deep wells necessary to make life possible in the town. The king died long ago and his kingdom fell apart as well, but the glasswork in Life’s Edge was still highly valued, so the town lived on.

Despite knowing the economic importance of glass in Life’s Edge, Shon generally avoided contact with many of the glassworkers there. He did not like living in the desert, and he reasoned that if it weren’t for the glassmakers, none of them would be living in Life’s Edge at all. Tarun however, did not share Shon’s irrational dislike for glassworkers, and so Shon found that his friend did not avoid them as much as he would have liked.

Shon sat next to Kryst, one of the more accomplished glassmakers in the town, with great beads of sweat accumulating on his forehead. Tarun stood before them wearing a thick leather apron and gloves, using metal tongs to extract a sphere of glass from inside the sweltering furnace.

“That’s quite impressive, young man!” exclaimed Kryst, “It took me over a year as an apprentice to learn to get my glass to turn out so round, and you’ve been at this for just a few months!” He nudged Shon and asked, “Are you sure he was not a glassmaker before he lost his memory?”

“I’m not sure,” said Shon with thinly veiled annoyance, “because we have no idea what he knew before he lost his memory. Though I doubt that’s the reason for how quickly he learned the glassmaking from you. He just seems to learn things really quickly.”

Kryst ignored Shon’s displeasure and laughed, “Well I certainly wished he had been here when I was commissioned to prepare the glass for your uncle’s greenhouse. Perhaps I would not have had so many panes returned to me until they met with Grodin’s approval.” Turning back to Tarun, and raising his voice so that he could be heard over the roaring flames, he asked, “And will you be coming back tomorrow?”

Tarun extracted the last of the glass, closed the door to the furnace, and then turned back to the glassmaker, wiping large beads of sweat from his forehead. “As long as you have more to teach me, Master Kryst,” Tarun said, “I will continue to be here every morning until Midday. I will not stay all day any longer, however, as I have agreed with Master Ban that I would begin learning from him after Midday starting tomorrow.”

“Ban?” Kryst said in horror, “That crazy old alchemist? You’ll be working with some mighty unstable substances, my boy. I would hate to see hands as talented as yours blown off!” Kryst looked at the admirable specimens of Tarun’s work that sat on a shelf behind him. “Well,” he sighed, “at least come back tomorrow, and I’ll show you a few techniques for coloring the glass. Good day, boys.”

As they turned the corner from the shop, they spied Grodin running up the street to meet them. “Hello Shon! Hello Tarun!” he shouted.

“Hello, Uncle Grodin,” said Shon as he drew closer, “what are you doing here?”

“I’ve just been to see Ban,” said Grodin, taking in some deep breaths as he stopped in front of them. “I let him know that Tarun would not be able to meet with him tomorrow, or any other day until further notice, and I want you boys to go back to Kryst, and tell him the same.”

“I don’t understand,” said Tarun, “why would you do that?”

“I’ll explain everything when you meet me back at the greenhouse,” panted Grodin. “I’ve got some things to get in order, so I have to go. Don’t dawdle, boys. We’ve got some packing to do.”

Kryst seemed quite disappointed when Tarun informed him that he would not be returning, but he was also visibly relieved when Tarun told him that he would not be learning from Ban for the present time either. Before they left, Kryst gestured to the shelf holding the items that Tarun had made, telling him to take what he wanted to keep, but that he would be willing to sell what he could and melt down the rest. The only piece that interested Tarun was a palm-sized piece of solid rounded glass that was flat on one side. Tarun had found it useful for magnifying surfaces when the flat side was laid down on them. After taking the piece of magnifying glass, Tarun bowed to Kryst and left the shop.

When they returned to the street, Tarun immediately began to walk briskly in the direction of the greenhouse. Shon worked up a light sweat trying to keep up with him, but was careful to keep enough distance between himself and Tarun that he could avoid being carried, as Tarun tended to do to him when in a hurry.

They arrived outside the greenhouse a short time later, and rang the brass bell. Instead of waiting for Grodin to emerge from the greenhouse or front door of the house, they were surprised to hear his voice yell to them from outside, “I’m around the back of the greenhouse, boys! Come on back!”

As they turned the corner to the back of the large greenhouse, Shon was shocked to see his uncle tending a little garden in the desert sand that he never even knew existed. “What is this?” Shon asked. “I thought nothing could grow in this sand. That’s why you had to import all of the soil in your greenhouse.”

“Good memory,” said Grodin, “but what I actually said was that nothing native could live and grow in this desert. These plants in front of you are quite exotic, which is why they are behind the greenhouse, and out of view from any curious neighbors.”

Tarun looked along the small garden and saw a group of a dozen or more bright green mushrooms with large, round heads, a neat row of six black thistles with deep purple blooms at the top, and then a single round plant that appeared to have at least a thousand needles protruding from every angle. “What are they?” he asked.

“Let me begin,” said Grodin, “by telling you not to touch any of them. The Midnight Thistles in the middle are deadly for starters, and the Viper Cactus hurts enough that you’ll wish it were deadly.”

“What about the mushrooms?” asked Shon.

“Well, they certainly can kill you if used incorrectly,” answered Grodin, “but mostly I don’t want you touching them because they’re so valuable. They’re called Camel Truffles, and they are the reason I told you two to meet me here.” Grodin stooped down to one of the Camel Truffles and collected a handful of the sand next to it. “Do you know why these mushrooms are able to grow in this desert sand?” Grodin asked.

“Because they’re magic?” Shon guessed.

“That’s partially true,” Grodin said as he grunted and stood up straight, “but it doesn’t answer my question. Just because a plant contains some magic doesn’t mean that it can live anywhere. Tarun, do you have a guess?”

“You taught me that most plants get the moisture they need to live from the soil in which they live,” said Tarun, “so this plant must get its moisture from somewhere else.”

“That’s exactly right,” said Grodin. “The Camel Truffle can pull moisture from anywhere nearby, even the air, and then keeps recycling the same moisture for incredibly long periods of time. During times of drought, they can do it almost indefinitely. That’s why you could die by eating one raw; it would absorb all the moisture from you body.”

“That’s interesting,” said Shon, “but what does it have to do with us?” Shon’s usual annoyance at his uncle’s long-winded explanations was replaced with amazement that his uncle would have anything to do with a plant possessing magical properties.

“Shon,” began Grodin, “ever since the town of Life’s Edge was established, there has never been a recorded instance of anyone successfully crossing the Endless Desert. Do you know why that is?”

“Because it’s endless?” said Shon, rolling his eyes.

“Don’t be stupid,” said Grodin, “if it were really endless then our entire world would have to be desert. We call it the Endless Desert merely because no one has ever seen the end of it. There have been attempts to find the end, but they have always been abandoned when it became clear that the explorers would not have enough supplies to return home, or they continued with the hope that they would find water on the other side, and were never heard from again.”

“I didn’t really think it was actually endless,” mumbled Shon, “I just thought it was a stupid question.”

“The amount of water that you would have to carry to go that far into the desert would require a caravan that only a king could afford,” said Grodin, “and since there are no supposed riches to be made from completing the journey, no one has ever bothered to finance a group that large.”

“That brings me back to these Camel Truffles,” Grodin said. “While they are deadly to eat raw, if dried and prepared correctly they can allow a person who eats one to consume several days worth of water at once, to be used slowly. Once the Camel Truffle is eaten the person eating it will not need to urinate or sweat until the mushroom has been completely digested, which usually takes seven or eight days.”

“Wait,” interrupted Shon, “even if we do decide to eat these potentially deadly mushrooms, as it sounds like you are getting to in a very long-winded way, there is still a problem. We would all die of the heat before the end of the first day if we can’t sweat out there!”

“I’ll get to that,” said Grodin, “but I am glad to hear you thinking so rationally, Shon.” Shon visibly relaxed after the compliment. “Now even with this mushroom,” Grodin continued, “I would never have presumed that there was anything life sustaining within a distance we could cross on foot. That is until the arrival of Tarun, here.”

“What do you mean?” Tarun asked.

“Tarun,” Grodin said, “you are an incredible young man, but not even you can live indefinitely without water. Wherever you came from, you were able to make it here on foot. We are going to do the same thing, but in the opposite direction, and better prepared.”

“Speaking of prepared, how long does it take to dry and prepare one of these mushrooms?” asked Shon.

“It takes approximately two months,” Grodin responded.

“If it’s going to take so long, why did you tell us we need to start packing today?” asked Shon.

Grodin shook his head as he looked at Shon. “Nephew,” he said, “what do you think I’ve been doing since Tarun came to live with us?” He then reached into his green cloak and retrieved three shriveled, black mushrooms.