Into The Ruins (11 page)

Her frustration showing, Inge stood and stepped away from the comfortable divan her father had had placed under the large tree for them to sit on when they visited in the garden.  “Goodnight, Rigo,” she said, and stormed off toward the house.

“We leave in the morning then?” Burke asked the next day when Rigo returned to the Outpost for the meeting they had arranged with the Elders.  Burke was surprisingly anxious to get started.  That was almost as much of a surprise as the fact that he and Rigo had become close friends over the past few months given how their relationship had begun.  Rigo wished he could find as much enthusiasm within himself, but the visit with Inge still weighed on his mind.

“We have made all the preparations we can,” Rigo replied.  “Unless someone can point to a reason for us to delay, then we will go.”

“Februus has assigned those who will accompany us on a rotational basis,” Tara said.  She would be joining Rigo and Burke as the third permanent member of the expedition.  The three of them planned to make the entire trip.  To provide exposure to what they learned and make sure there were others familiar with the new territory that was uncovered by their explorations, a fourth member would join them.   Since they would be returning at the end of each day, that position would rotate.  Five of the Outpost’s wizards had been selected to join them, one each day, with the specific wizard that traveled along following a schedule based on their other duties.  The approach would also minimize any necessary time for Rigo and his core group to spend keeping the wizards at the Outpost informed of their progress.  That task would be the responsibility of those who periodically joined them.

“Did I hear my name,” Februus said as the three wizards walked into the room where he waited with his fellow Elders, Gagan and Nadav.  The three senior wizards had retained their leadership, but the role they fulfilled had changed dramatically over the last season.  Nadav was now almost entirely focused on the training of new wizards, and Gagan provided oversight of the interface between the three kingdoms. Februus was still the senior wizard, but he now led with a light hand, and provided mostly coordination between the various groups rather than firm direction.

Fewer wizards were seen in the Outpost these days, despite their number having almost tripled since Rigo’s first visit to the place.  The younger wizards were resident, but those who had reached full status were spread around the Three Kingdoms, either pursuing a task at the request of the elders, or having returned home to help in their old villages now that magic was no longer in the shadows.  Branid and Kellmore were fully supportive of the attempt to grow the wizard community and encouraged the search for those with the gift, but there were still issues with Lopal.  Despite I’Vorrris’s best efforts during the year he had assumed the role of Lamane, he hadn’t been able to get all of his subordinates to fall fully in line.  Now that he had turned leadership over to Bert’lan, no one was sure whether the effort would continue, or whether Lopal would remain somewhat separate.  It was a frustrating situation, because of all the Three Kingdoms, Lopal had the greatest need for wizards trained in the event a breach of the barrier happened.

Ash’urn still spent most of his time pursuing his researches.  He had his own quarters, and seldom returned to Branid with Rigo anymore.  He and Nycoh continued to work through the vast number of books, and were passing key tidbits out to the wizard community as well as to the merchant leaders as appropriate.  Already, new products were becoming available based on the discoveries of the two determined researchers.  Rigo wanted a moment with Ash’urn before they left in the morning.

“Tara was explaining that you have selected those who will accompany us,” Rigo explained.

Februus nodded.  “Koess will be the first.  The others know their schedule and will be present at the appropriate time each day.  I could introduce you if you wish, but Tara and Burke know each of them well.  Are you certain that four of you will be a sufficient number?  What about the Morvane?”

Their first encounter with one of the Morvane had taken six linked wizards to bring the creature down.  They had learned more about dealing with the Morvane since that time, and with their combined power, Rigo, Burke and Tara could reliably dispatch one of the creatures if needed.  Normally they would do their best to detour around any of the beasts they came upon, especially any of the Morvane.  If they were to find a large number that wanted to fight, no force of wizards would be adequate to deal with them.  Flight would be their only option.  The fourth member of their party would provide additional capability, but since the abilities would vary depending on who was with them on any given day, they weren’t expecting to rely on them for their defensive plans. 

“We foresee no problems,” Rigo reassured him.  “If something unexpected comes up, we will return to the Outpost and reconsider how to proceed.  That is the one aspect of this expedition that is so fortunate.  We will not be heading off and out of touch for months. We will return with our findings and progress each day, able to delay or continue as other needs develop.  The
Bypass
will allow us to return exactly to the point we last left.”

“You will be taking supplies just in case?” Februus asked.  “That is a hostile place and you’ll want to be prepared.”

“Each of us will carry a pack,” Burke agreed.  “Actually quite a heavy pack.  Water is our greatest concern.  We will hydrate before leaving, and each of us will carry a pair of waterskins and two day’s light rations.  We also have some other items that should prove useful.”

“What about weapons?” Gagan asked.

“Belt knives,” Rigo replied.  “We can’t see much need for anything else.  With our magic, we are better armed than we would be with any sword, and there is little to be gained by lugging around the extra weight.”

“I suppose so,” Gagan agreed reluctantly.  “Sometimes I fear we rely too much on our magic.  In such a place, weapons seem appropriate.  What about someone more skilled with swords?  Don’t you have a friend who was exceptionally talented in that way?”

Rigo thought briefly of Kaler.  Then he pushed aside the thought.  “Those without the gift should not wander the Ruins,” he said firmly.

After touching on a couple of other topics and agreeing that they would all meet again after the first day of travel, the three adventurers took their leave of the Elders.  Burke and Tara went to take care of their own personal business, while Rigo went in search of Ash’urn.

“She’s still mad at you, isn’t she?” Ash’urn asked right off.

Rigo nodded glumly.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ash’urn told him.  “She’ll get over it.  Once you go out and come back home each night, she’ll come to see it as no different than any of the other wanderings that you wizards are always doing.  Trust me.  She’ll come around.  A lot of her concern is probably because she is pregnant.  A boy, you say?”

“According to Jeen,” Rigo said.  “I have no way of knowing.”

“Well, my congratulations.  I think you have chosen well.   And the Binding ceremony is still a way off?”

“I wanted to move it forward.  I thought if we held it now, before the journey were to start, she might see things differently, but she has it in her mind that it must be at the time she selected.  She can be a stubborn woman at times.”

“I think she will have to be given who she will be consorted with,” Ash’urn said with a smirk.

“You said you had something to help us in the Ruins when I saw you the other day?” Rigo asked.

Ash’urn nodded.  “Of course.  It’s over here.”

He led them to a table in the back of his study.  There were any number of strange items scattered around.  Rigo knew that Ash’urn had systematically retrieved all his notes and artifacts from his journeys over the years and brought them here.  He wondered if Ash’urn knew what all of this stuff was for.

“I found a reference to this in one of the books in the library here,” Ash’urn explained.  “Nycoh and I spent some time understanding the principles, and then we had a couple made.  This is the second iteration of the design.  I’ve had Nycoh ferry me around the Three Kingdoms to test it, and it appears to work as advertised everywhere we have tried it.  That’s not to say it will work the same in the Ruins.  There is something unnatural about that place, so who knows what will happen out there.  You will have to test it and see if what it tells you is consistent with what you know to be true.”

“What does it do?” Rigo asked.

“So much of the Ruins looks the same, it is easy to get lost.  Up to now, trips have been limited to specific locations, with the plan of simply using magic to jump home.  This time you will be wandering on foot as you try and push deeper into territory that no one has explored before.  Remember when the five of us hiked a few days into the Ruins before we knew about
Bypasses
?  Once we lost sight of the land we could easily have been turned around and lost had it not been for the pull of Daim’s lair that directed you.  This time you won’t have that, so you’ll have to take care not to wander in circles.”

As he talked Ash’urn lifted three pieces out of a carefully padded small leather box.  Rigo could see the box had been designed to be small and rugged, and he knew Ash’urn had had it built to protect the pieces while Rigo traveled.  Ash’urn assembled the pieces, then stood back and watched as the wobbling indicator swung and then pointed off to one side.

“It always points that way,” Ash’urn explained.  “From what we know about our location here at the Outpost, Sulen is over there somewhere,” he said, and waved an arm about a third of the way around a circle away from the direction the indicator was aligned.  “Once you get into the Ruins, when you still know from Daim’s memories which way the three kingdoms are located, set this up and learn where they are relative to the painted arrow.  If this works the same there, then you can always know which direction is toward, and which direction is away from here.”

“How does it work?” Rigo asked as he stared at the device.

“I haven’t a clue, to be honest. Nycoh and I haven’t figured out much of the science behind it.  They were well ahead of us back then.  We have concentrated on getting a working model ready in time for your travels.”

“It will be of great help if it works,” Rigo said truthfully.  He had been worried about being able to maintain a straight track as they ventured deeper into the unknown.  One can look back on his tracks, but even then a very slow deviation can turn one around over time.

“When you come back after tomorrow’s first day, come and let me know if it works.  I will be very curious if the rules that govern nature are the same out there.  Magic is certainly somewhat different, but we don’t know what else.”

As they stepped out onto the orange-colored sands that were characteristic of the Ruins, Rigo felt the strangeness of the place seep into his bones almost immediately.  It was always this way, and he’d never come to be entirely comfortable with the sensation.  They had come to the starting point, a place well into the Ruins that Rigo and Burke had visited several times before.  It was the farthest that Daim had ever ventured into the hostile land, and Rigo had used the old wizard’s memories to locate the place the first time he had come here.  Now it was familiar to the three of them, and after today would be to Koess as well.

“This looks no different than it does near the towers I’ve visited,” Koess remarked with a touch of a shudder.  “I really don’t like this place.  How will you know which way to go?”

“I don’t know how Daim originally determined it, but the three kingdoms are that way,” Rigo said, pointing opposite from the squat lonely hill that occupied the landscape to their left.  “We will start using the hill as a marker and then hopefully locate other landmarks to use as guidance.”

Koess looked at the hill and the surrounding country.

“That’s going to disappear after a couple of glass and I don’t see much else in the distance that will help,” he said.

“We’ll just have to make do,” Burke said.  He didn’t want any negative thoughts to delay their start.

“We also have this,” Rigo said, and extracted the small case Ash’urn had given him from his pack.  As he set it up, he explained how it was supposed to work.  Once the needle had settled, he was gratified to see that it pointed consistent with the direction Ash’urn had shown him back at the Outpost.  By using the device, he was able to locate where the Three Kingdoms were.

“I can’t believe you are going to rely on that,” Koess said.

Even Tara was looking at the small object with suspicion.

“It will be one more aid,” Rigo explained.  “We have nothing else.  Magic doesn’t offer a way to determine direction, at least not one we know.  We also have to be suspicious out here of our magic as well.  We don’t know how it might be affected.”

Burke had sudden thoughts of the problems they had encountered in the tunnels which were far closer to home than they were at the moment.  He knew his magic worked here.  They had been here before and tested.  Nonetheless, he would make periodic checks to see if anything seemed to be changing.

Four glass later they stopped for lunch.  Each of them realized they were deeper into the Ruins than anyone had been in thousands of years.  Only a few of the wizards in Daim’s time had gone farther.  The hill they had used as a marker had long disappeared behind them, and they had seen nothing but endless orange sand and a number of strange looking lizards.  At least something lived out here, but how it survived they had no idea.  They had seen only a few Hoplani, and those had been at a great distance and hadn’t been anything to worry about.  Rigo wondered if there were more tunnels under the burning sands.  Even if there were tunnels, he had no wish to travel in them.  He had learned that there were problems with magic in the tunnels, and he wouldn’t know where they were headed.  Of course, they might be missing what they sought by avoiding the underground passageways, but he didn’t want to believe that.  They would search above ground for now.  If that failed, perhaps they would have to search for an extensive tunnel system.