Into The Ruins (36 page)

“I worry that she might make the leap to wonder about such abilities existing in Sedfair.  We need to warn those at the island.  It should be secure, but they should be prepared against possible discovery.”

“Lyes went there tonight,” Kall said.  “I told him they needed to be aware of recent developments.”

“Was that wise?” Rosul asked. “Fortunately, Lyes can mask his
Doorway
, so no one can detect the far end, but do we want them to know so much traveling is going on?”

“He made a
Doorway
back here for the three of us that returned, then made a
Doorway
to the island from Slipi.  No one there has the ability to detect such things, and by the time anyone here discovers we were there, all trace will have faded.  When he is finished, he will return to Nals from there.  His path will be impossible to trace.”

“Lyes needs to be very careful and very alert.  As soon as I confront Carif, she is going to be aware that someone talked.  She will have her people investigate and will learn, among others events, that you were in Slipi.  That means she will know that someone made a
Doorway
.  Such people are rare, and if she can’t find a candidate among her own, she is going to realize we have access to someone with the capability.  That will not make her happy.”

“Lyes is the only one on our team who can do so,” Kall reminded her.

“And he is right under her nose.  She might discover he has been seen with Fen, and become suspicious.  Maybe we should cut our losses and have Lyes leave now?”

“We have a lot invested in Lyes,” Kall said slowly.  “But I see what you mean.  Unfortunately, that will link Lyes with us, and start Carif looking towards us.  That’s why you decided not to go forward with talking to Fen yourself, isn’t it?  It’s too bad we can’t get her thinking along a different path.”

“Carif is going to speak with him, of that I’m certain.  There is no way a boy of that age would be able to hide the fact we had spoken with him.  I doubt that he will be able to hide the fact he talked with Lyes.  While there were any number of soldiers from Slipi who could have talked, there is no credible way we would have stumbled onto them this quickly.”

“What should we do?” Kall asked.

“I hate to say it, but you need to meet with Lyes when he returns.  I want him safe before I confront Carif.  Send him back to the island and start making plans for the backup site.  Having him there will get him away from Carif, and provide a means of escape for our people if needed.”

Reluctantly Kall pushed back the covers and slid out of bed.  “This might take the rest of the night,” he said sadly.

The agreement they had made with one another was simple, and in the end probably meaningless.  They all realized it, but there was little else they could do.  Orna had never been returned, and they had to assume the worst.  Whatever they had done to her, the Reading, whatever that involved, had killed her.  The words from the guard who had commented on it said as much.  Rigo was beside himself with the loss of one of his team. He was the leader, and he should have been able to prevent it from happening.  At the very least, they should have taken him instead.  Like Ash’urn and Lorl, he knew their agreement to fight off any attempt to take another was destined to end in failure.  Realistically, what could three unarmed men hope to accomplish against any number of strong, well armed, professionals?  Rigo’s primary hope was that whenever they came, whomever they came for, he would be the one they ended up taking.  He could speak to some degree, so perhaps he could talk to whoever they would take him to.  Perhaps there was a way to end this. 

Ash’urn said little about Orna’s loss, but Rigo could tell that the death of the small woman weighed on the scholar.  Lorl, normally self-centered and unconcerned about others, was uncommonly vocal about the situation.  More of a bond than Rigo had realized had formed between Lorl and Orna.  She had, after all, saved his hide that day in the Ruins when Lorl had been distracted while an unseen Hoplani charged down on him.  She hadn’t had the staff that day, but had jumped out at the beasts and swatted it with her sword, causing enough of a distraction that Lorl had had time to recover.  They became more serious about looking for any possible means of escape, although the cell here was as escape-proof as any Rigo had seen.  The most significant problem was the blocking of their magic.  All of them had come to rely on the powers they could command at will, and being without was difficult to accept.  Even Ash’urn had tried his spoken magic, finding it no more available than the magic of the two wizards.

When the guards came, they really had no chance.  They had obviously anticipated some form of resistance, and when the evening meal arrived, it came with a dozen of the armed soldiers, each with a knife already drawn.  Before the three men could react they found themselves with knives to their throats and a couple of the burly guards restraining them.

“That one,” the leader of the group said, pointing at Rigo.

Rigo felt a small ripple of fear, despite his previous resolution to be the one to be taken.  He felt he had the best chance to change the situation, but he couldn’t deny that there was a very real probability that he would soon share Orna’s fate.

“Let him go,” Lorl shouted, struggling despite the knife to his own throat, his words having no effect on the guards, both because they were uninterested in his objections and because they couldn’t understand what he was saying.

“It’ll be okay,” Rigo said to Lorl.  “I’ll be back.  I can speak the language, so maybe I can work something out.  I’ll see you in a glass or so.”

He tried to sound positive, but Rigo wasn’t anywhere near as confident as he tried to sound.  He glanced at Ash’urn, now pale and frightened.  He nodded as the three men dragged him from the cell room.

“Fight them Rigo,” Lorl called after him.  “Don’t let them . .”

Rigo never heard what he was supposed to not let them do when the thick door to the room was closed behind him.  Outside the room for the first time in days, Rigo tried to reach for his magic.  The room had been lined with the symbols that isolated him and perhaps he could access just enough to try and do something about the bands he wore.  Unfortunately, whoever had designed the bands knew what he was doing.  The metal straps were effective enough all alone to prevent him from drawing even a trickle of power.  The simplest of his spells were denied him.  He wouldn’t be escaping that way.  He also had learned from simple experimentation that the strange metal used in the devices was resistant to tampering by most normal means.  He doubted even a blacksmith could remove them.

The guards shoved him down the hallway to the ramp that lead upwards.  One of the guards walked ahead, and one on either side of him.  Rigo wondered if torture was planned and how well he would be able to resist.  He’d never been particularly impassive about pain, and most of his life hadn’t needed to be.  He had information that shouldn’t be released to these people, and he hoped he would be able to hold it secret.  If they learned that he knew something of value, he feared they might dig it out of him.  Perhaps this Reading thing, whatever it involved, might be able to detect the very items he most wished to conceal. Unlike Orna, he spoke the language, so they might be able to learn secrets she wouldn’t have been able to reveal even had she wished to.  Briefly he thought what Orna might have endured, wanting to talk, but unable to communicate and thereby relieve her suffering. 

As they walked down a long hallway on an upper floor, Rigo demonstrated his command of the local language.  He made a particularly insulting remark about the mothers of the three men escorting him.  He hoped he might make them angry and that might offer him some opportunity.  The three men ignored him as if he hadn’t spoken.  It was probably just as well, Rigo decided.  Even if he gained a momentary advantage, there was nowhere to go, and if he hoped to help Ash’urn and Lorl he needed to find someone in authority to speak with.  He hoped to be afforded that opportunity.

The passageway up here was very ornate, and while the decor was simple, Rigo could tell that it represented a significant effort.  They turned a corner halfway down the hallway, and then made straight for a door at the end of the short hallway in which they found themselves.  The lead guard opened the door and stepped inside.  Rigo was pushed through and forced to sit at one of two chairs on either side of a medium sized oval table.  There was food and water on the table, and Rigo wasn’t certain if he was allowed to sample it.  He wasn’t sure he wanted to, although he could think of no reason it would be poisoned or drugged. They could do that to him without subterfuge if they wished it.  In the end, he simply sat and waited, the three guards calmly waiting behind him, their backs against the wall as they blocked any exit from this side of the room.

Rigo examined the room while he waited.  Opposite the door through which he’d entered was a second door.  It was closed at the moment so he had no idea what might be on the far side.  Off to his right was an open archway into a second room.  In that room he could see a narrow horizontal table equipped with leather straps.  There was little doubt the straps were meant to secure someone, like himself, to the table for some kind of procedure. 
The Reading? 
Rigo had no idea and he couldn’t see enough of the room to have any idea what else might be in there.  Rigo couldn’t help the crawling feeling that inched its way across his skin.

He was left to worry about what awaited him for nearly a quarter glass.  Then the door on the far side of the table opened and an older woman stepped into the room.  He was a little surprised by her age, but she showed no signs of infirmity.  She stood tall and proud.  Had he any doubts that this was who they were waiting for, they would have been dispelled by the manner in which the three guards came silently to attention.  Rigo already knew that women were generally in charge here, and so he examined the woman carefully as she stepped toward the table.  The clothes she wore were simple, yet looked to be expensive.  At least they would have been back home.  She carried herself with confidence, and it was obvious that she was used to being in control.  This one was one of their leaders, of that he was certain.  Well, he’d wanted to be given the opportunity to make his case to someone in authority.  It appeared he was being granted his wish. 

After the woman sat, she examined him carefully.  She hadn’t brought anything with her.  She had no paper for notes, and no list of questions.  She would remember what he said without such simple aids. Rigo didn’t like her eyes.  They were gray and cold looking.  She examined him analytically, and he could tell she cared little what happened to him.  She was here for something she wanted, and she would go after it by whatever means she felt would be most expedient.

“I am Carif,” she said suddenly.  “I am in charge here.  I’m told you speak our language.”  Her voice was crisp and clear, and she enunciated clearly.  Rigo wondered if that was to make it easy for him to understand, or whether she always spoke thus.

Rigo had decided not to pretend.  The guards would have told her he could speak to a limited degree, and his best chance of finding an answer to their dilemma, and perhaps save Ash’urn and Lorl unnecessary pain was to see what this woman wanted.

“I can understand some of it, yes,” Rigo admitted, attempting to speak as clearly as possible.  Some of the words were still awkward in his mouth, the sounds very different than those required back home.

The woman listened to his answer, paying attention to his accent.

“If you are not from Sedfair as everyone believes, how did you learn our language?”

Sedfair.  Somehow he’d known that without realizing it.
  I don’t know,” he answered slowly. 

“Come now,” she admonished him sharply.  “If you aren’t going to cooperate on simple matters, how are we to get anywhere?”

She looked sincere and concerned, but Rigo could sense the hardness in her and see the distrust in her eyes.

“It’s the truth,” Rigo answered.  “Over the last few days while we have been locked in the room, I’ve somehow gradually learned to speak and understand the words.  I cannot explain how.”

“Are you skilled with languages and have you demonstrated an ability to pick them up in the past?”

“Quite the contrary, actually.  I’ve never been one to learn even related dialects easily.”

“And you would have me believe you have no explanation for your ability?”

Rigo shrugged.  He had no intention of sharing his suspicion that he had originally come from Sedfair.  That would require a long and complicated explanation that would not only sound false, but which would require him to reveal many things he wished to keep secret.

The woman named Carif eyed him for a moment, then changed her line of questioning.

“Where are you from, and why are you here?” Carif asked pointedly.

The questions were ones that Rigo expected, but he was surprised to sense a hint of worry about her questions as to why he was here. 
She’s worried about us
, Rigo realized
.  Why would four simple explorers bother her so?

“We come from a land beyond the Ruins,” he replied.  He couldn’t see how that information would help her any, and she had to expect it already seeing they’d captured Orna and Ash’urn in the oasis. 

“The Ruins?  Oh, you mean the Wastelands.  Yes, we already have assumed that much.  We find that somewhat surprising, as we’ve always believed the Wastelands to be uncrossable.”

“It is difficult,” Rigo acknowledged.  He felt a bit of a thrill. 
He had already learned something.  The woman might be lying, but something in her manner suggested otherwise.  If these people didn’t know how to cross the Ruins then the Three Kingdoms were safe from them, and they weren’t the force behind the Hoplani
.

“We were surprised to find the little patch of protected lands in the harshness of the Wastelands where we arrested your friends.  Are such places common and is that how you make your way across the desert?”

“You must already know the answer.  You have the journal that Ash’urn was keeping.”

“Ash’urn,” she said, savoring the unusual name.  “That is the older gentleman?  Yes, we have his books, but we cannot read the language.”

“Sketches usually don’t require much reading,” Rigo replied bluntly.

“How do you cross over the infected zones to these patches of normalcy?” she asked, ignoring his comment.

“I’ve seen that you know how to make
Bypass
portals.  Those easily will take you between those locations you know of.  Of course, if you don’t know of them, then you have a problem.”

“Yes, we can make the
Doorways
, but you and I both know that at some point the way is blocked by the Ruins.  The magic of the
Doorways
no longer works.”

So, they’ve been exploring
, Rigo realized. 
Somehow they have been able to go out into the Ruins and visit some of the places we’ve been.  That’s how they caught Ash’urn and Orna, and it sounds like they have gone all the way to the oasis where a staff is required to go onward.  How did they obtain the knowledge of the locations?  It had to be from the Reading they talk about that was applied to Orna.  They were able to extract the locations from her in such a way they could use them.  That is something we could not do at home, which suggests they have abilities we do not
.

“You killed my companion to obtain the images that have allowed you to visit the Ruins,” Rigo accused her.

“Your friend should not have died,” Carif lied.  She would have died from the degree at which they were probing her mind, but she should have lived longer to yield up more valuable information.  “Her mind was resistant, and the strain killed her.”

Rigo slumped in his chair.  He had known that Orna was dead, but to have it confirmed made it more real.  “Someone will pay for her death,” Rigo warned impotently.