Into The Ruins (54 page)

Suline knew they should return now.  They had accomplished what had been ordered, and lingering would only increase the chances of their being discovered.  They couldn’t speak the language, and who knew what kind of patrols had been dispatched to watch for someone like themselves.  Even so, she couldn’t help herself.  One of the memories she held was of a small village on the edge of a vast ocean.  Perhaps it was where the woman had lived.  Suline made a
Doorway
, this time masking the end points, and soon the three Casters stood looking at the western ocean.  They had come as far as they could, although Suline realized there was land that was populated far out in the ocean.  She thought she could make a
Doorway
there, but that would be an unnecessary and unacceptable risk.  Almost sadly, they started the long journey back.

She reluctantly handed over the amulet to the Saltique.  The three Casters stood formally in the meeting room, with the five Specialists also in attendance.  Over the next glass Suline, sometimes augmented by one of her companions, answered the questions from the Guild’s senior rulers.  Suline explained the limitations of the amulet, and the difficulties with making the trip.  The greatest weakness was the choke points formed by the two oases near the middle of the Wastelands.

“If they properly patrol those two locations, they could effectively block our travel,” she explained.  “I believe there are more oases in the vicinity, and if we could locate one unused by the Three Kingdoms, we would have a pathway that would be easier and outside of their control.”

“Perhaps your next task will be to seek such a place out,” Carif said.  She was pleased by what the women had accomplished.  “You have had a long and stressful journey.  I will want to speak with you again, perhaps tomorrow.  For now, we must consider what you have learned.”  With that, she dismissed the three Casters.

The meeting with her Specialists lasted for many additional glass.  Opinions differed as to how to proceed.  They had only the one amulet.  That limited their flexibility.  Several of the Specialists felt the first action would be to try and duplicate the device.  If they could make them in quantity, they would be able to field multiple missions should the need arise.  Others felt the Three Kingdoms had been angered, and felt themselves immune to the wrath of the Guild, and might take action.  If they could be surprised in a dramatic way, they might be forced to reconsider, and withhold any plans of attack realizing they weren’t isolated and protected by the Wastelands.  Carif was of the latter opinion, and also wished to strike back for the blow the rescue had dealt her people.  The issue was how, using a single device to move their people, they could implement an attack that would make the necessary point.

Within a few days, a diplomatic visit was being planned to Sedfair.  Despite the short time remaining during which Queen Rosul would remain in power, the various leaders of the Three Kingdoms had decided that it was important to act quickly to try and arrange some formal agreements between the two lands.  It might be a way of settling certain critical issues before the Guild, which appeared less open to diplomacy, took full control of the Monarchy there.  If a treaty were in place, that might bind the hands of the new leader.  Interest had also been heightened by Rigo’s explanation of why he felt he might have been from Sedfair originally.  He was convinced the two areas were meant to be linked in some important way, although he couldn’t provide any concrete reasons for his belief.

Rigo would be one of those to go to Sedfair on the diplomatic mission.  He knew the Queen and was one of the two people who knew the language.  Jeen would go as the representative of the leaders.  It was a role she’d been fulfilling for a number of years between the various leaders of the Three Kingdoms.  Daria and Kaler refused to be left behind.  They argued that where magic might not work, their swords and knives would, should the need arise again.  Neither was convinced a return visit would go smoothly, and Daria openly questioned the wisdom of the proposed visit.  If diplomacy failed, they would be the backups and they intended to see that Rigo wasn’t imprisoned yet again.  Ash’urn would stay at the Outpost.  Not only was he the only other person who was comfortable with the language, but he and young Fen were busy exploring the symbolic magic of the far-off land.  He was clearly needed here.  Several wizards had suggested that they take Fen back home, but the lad didn’t want to go.  Rigo planned to visit his father and bring him here if he was willing should Fen remain firm and stay behind.  Burke and Tara agreed to go, and several other wizards would accompany the troop as well.  They had yet to be selected.  Nycoh wished to go, but pressure was being applied for her to stay.

Ash’urn had already found several aspects of the new magic useful.  He clearly saw a connection between the magic used in Sedfair and their own. 

“You encountered one individual who has the same powers as you,” Ash’urn pointed out.  “You even believe you might have originally come from there.  That suggests there are more, even if perhaps the numbers are far less than we have seen here in the Three Kingdoms.  In addition, their symbolic magic appears to be very different. The triggering phrases are clearly linked to the spoken magic I have been able to employ with some degree of success.  Fen and I have even located the symbolic construction of several spells I know, and my memorized phrases trigger them properly.”  Ash’urn didn’t elaborate what they had discovered when he did this.  “These facts, show there is a relationship.”

“Why would the magic have evolved so differently?” Rigo asked.

“I would guess the plague had a great deal to do with it.  The progression of the plague was very different in the two areas.  In Sedfair, they were aggressive, almost brutally so, in eliminating any who caught it to eliminate the spread.  Those with the gift were more susceptible, and therefore would have been more completely eliminated.  Those who use symbolic magic really don’t have the gift, just a talent with scripting and language.  Even here in the Three Kingdoms, for centuries it was believed magic was a fable, and the only reason true magic grew forth as it did, was because of the knowledge you inherited from Daim.”

“Do you really believe there is something you can learn that will help with the Hoplani?”

“That I cannot say, but I can see any number of gains that would be useful for the people here.  Having Fen come along, especially with the reference materials he had with him, is indeed fortunate.” 

“He’s happy enough then?”

“He is so taken with everything that is happening, that he hasn’t had time to think too much about his situation. Sooner or later, he is going to realize where he is and how far from home he has come.  It would be good if you could bring his family to visit.”

Two days later Rigo and Jeen returned from a visit with the King and Queen of Branid after receiving an urgent summons from Nycoh.  The young wizard who had come in search of them wouldn’t say what had prompted the request for their early return under urgent orders from her.

“The towers are down,” she said bluntly as they hurried into her quarters.

“What?” Rigo asked.  “I thought you said the Morvane were under control.  How many have failed?”

“All of them,” Nycoh replied, and waited for the shock to settle in.

“All?” Jeen stammered.

“How is that possible?” Rigo asked, his mind already considering the consequences. 

“Sabotage,” Nycoh stated flatly. “Someone deliberately damaged enough of the towers to bring down the entire system.”

“Who would stand to gain by such an act?” Jeen asked, but Rigo already knew.

“Sedfair,” He said flatly.  “The Guild has come to the Three Kingdoms.”

“That is our guess as well,” agreed Nycoh.  “The reports that have come back indicate that only magic could have done the amount of damage we are seeing.  It is not at all like what happens when the Morvane attempt to push through.”

Rigo’s shoulders slumped.  “I was wrong.  I was certain they didn’t have the ability to cross over the dead zones.  Clearly I was mistaken and lied to.”  He was starting to think even the Queen and Mitty might have led him astray.  Was he that gullible?

“You might have been right,” Nycoh said.  “We may be responsible for giving them the means to do this.”

“I don’t understand,” Rigo said.

“I’ve done some checking.  Everyone who went to Sedfair after you wore one of the special amulets that our newest reincarnation of Daim constructed.  Jeen wore one in addition to the staff she carried for you.  All have been accounted for, except the one that was worn by Kirl.”

“You mean no one checked him when he was brought back?” Jeen asked.

“The medical wizards who prepared him for cremation didn’t think about it.  They didn’t even know they existed, but are certain he wasn’t wearing one when they examined his remains.  Those who brought him back, assumed the medical folks had recovered it.”

“It could have fallen off when Lorl recovered his body at the oasis,” Rigo said.

“There, or perhaps somewhere else along the return.”

“Has anyone gone looking?” Jeen asked.

“Not yet, and I believe it will be too late.  Still, we should check and see.”

“I’ll go,” Rigo offered. 

“I’ll go along,” Jeen agreed.  “We’ll take a large crew.  Who knows what is out there now.”

“Lorl feels personally responsible,” Nycoh explained, “but at the time, he didn’t even know about the amulets.  None of you did.  It was an oversight that we didn’t tell you immediately.”

“Things were happening rather fast,” Rigo said.  “No one had any time for discussions.  It’s bad if this is what happened, but if it is how they are getting here, then they may have only the one device.  It will limit anything they want to attempt.  If we can recover it, they will be blocked again.”

“Unless they can duplicate it,” Nycoh noted.

“What does Daim say?” Jeen asked.  “Does he think they can figure out what it does?”

“He went to examine the towers.  I’ll ask him the moment he returns.”

“What about the Hoplani?” Rigo asked.

“Thousands are headed toward Lopal.  We’ve allowed them to wander freely on the far side of the barrier for many years now.  They couldn’t get past the barrier, and we focused our energies on the Morvane and the new tower system.  Now we need every capable wizard to try and destroy the herds heading west toward Lopal, while we also need more people than are available to repair the damaged towers.  We also need to warn the leaders of the Three Kingdoms that we appear to be under attack, and by people who control magic. Who knows what actions they might take?  A large force of wizards is needed to guard the royal families, and others need to be available to counter any further attacks.  Even with the growth in our numbers, we are going to fall short of our needs.  Simply protecting Lopal will be difficult.

Nycoh looked over Rigo’s shoulder and nodded at someone standing there.  A young wizard Rigo knew only casually stepped into the room.

“Thirty-eight towers are damaged,” he reported.  “Ten are all but destroyed.”

That was bad news.  It would take weeks to replace those that had been destroyed.  It was anyone’s guess how long repairs would take on the others without a careful examination.

“Two of our people were killed,” Daim added as he stepped belatedly into the room.  He had just arrived from his own examination of the southernmost towers.

Jeen and Rigo had the same immediate thought.  It was bad enough to lose more people, but if the enemy was increasing their stock of the travel devices, it would only get worse.

“No,” Nycoh said, after hearing their concern.  No one is wearing the amulets unless they are specially tasked with going to the Hoplani Farms.”  She then asked Daim about the ability to duplicate the devices.

“I never considered the need to protect the design,” he said slowly.  “It would take someone with considerable insight to do so, but it would not be impossible for a copy to be made.  Most likely, they would make something that would work on a limited basis, failing after a number of uses.  The magic that offsets the Ruins is not that difficult to understand, but the special binding that holds the amulets together is rather unique.  I would suggest I modify the design so all future devices are bonded to the user in a manner somewhat like Rigo’s staff, but with a built in self-destruct if taken from the owner.”

“See to it,” Nycoh commanded.  “It would be best to have those immediately.  We still have people out in the Ruins, and will need to send more so they are protected.”

“If they are indeed using the lost amulet, and relying on Orna’s knowledge to make the trip, they have to be coming via either Oasis Three or Oasis Four,” Rigo said after a moment’s thought.  If we can man those locations sufficiently, we can stop them from crossing over, or from getting back home if they are already in the Three Kingdoms.”

“That’s manpower we can ill afford,” Nycoh said.

“It’s manpower we can’t afford not to have,” Rigo countered.  “We can’t afford to allow them a foothold or to take command of those locations.  We would find ourselves blocked in the event we wished to take any action against them.”

Nycoh nodded, her lips in a tight line.  “Let’s get started.  I’ll send more people out there and the distribution of the teams going after the Hoplani, while Daim sees to making modifications to the amulets.  For anyone who is wounded or killed, it is essential we make sure to recover the amulets.  Rigo, you have a look at the towers, and Jeen should alert the royal families to the problem.

“What if they locate another oasis to use instead of the two we are aware of?” Jeen asked.

“Then we have no way to stop them from getting here,” Rigo said.  “That should take time, however, and hopefully by then we can do something about this.”

By the end of the day, they knew how bad it was.  Tens of thousands of Hoplani were on the march toward Lopal.  After pouring through the broken barrier, they had dispersed in the vast expanse of the Ruins, and while some large herds were located and destroyed, there was little doubt that a great many of the creatures were going to reach the border where they would inflict severe casualties.  The people in the villages were being warned, but it was anyone’s guess how many would leave in time, or where they would go.  Wizards were making
Bypass
portals to help the evacuations, but the problem was just going to be repeated farther inland as the creatures advanced.  Jeen and Rigo had returned after searching for the missing amulet, but as expected, it wasn’t found.  Odds were the Guild now had it.

Rigo was about to head back out to join one of the search teams, when Ash’urn and young Fen appeared at the door.

“We’d like to show you something,” Ash’urn said.

Nycoh smiled at Ash’urn.  She knew he wouldn’t be here requesting her time if didn’t relate to the problem at hand.  “What do you have for us?” she asked.

Ash’urn waved a short wand.  It was made of cheap wood and just a little longer than his arm.  “If you could come to the balcony?” he asked.

A short walk later they were assembled outside overlooking the valley.  “Fen here is extremely skillful with the symbols required to initiate the spells.  We were able to locate this one by working through his books, and he transcribed the necessary gylphs.  He is a wonder at making precise runes.  He was able to carve them into this piece of wood.  Watch what happens.  You all have witnessed my limited ability with
Brightfire
initiated with the spoken commands.”

Rigo nodded.  He had been the first to be caught off guard when Ash’urn had brought down one of the Hoplani by triggering a series of weak bolts of the magical energy. 

Ash’urn turned toward the valley and picked  out a tree some distance away.  He raised his hands dramatically and uttered the phrase he’d learned many years ago, except this time, rather than an anemic unsatisfying beam, a bright white blast of
Brightfire
erupted from the end of the wooden wand and blasted the tree into ash.  He turned back toward the shocked group and smiled.  “I’ve always wanted to do something like that!”