Wizard's Blood [Part Two] (79 page)

They continued to trudge past until suddenly Asari shouted out, “Wait!”

Shyar stopped and looked at him with concern. “What’s wrong?” she finally asked seeing nothing obvious that would have caused him to react so.

“
I think we are here,” he said, with a bit of uncertainty showing on his face for the first time.

“
There’s nothing here,” Shyar said, pointing to the small meadow and the solid rock that bordered the one side. The other side was open to the sky with a long drop to the ground far below.

“
Right there,” Asari said, pointing at the solid granite mountain. “We need to go that way.”

Shyar looked at him strangely, and walked over to run her hands along the granite hillside. The rock was solid and impenetrable. She looked at Asari who nodded, then stepped back and probed with her magic. She could sense nothing out of the ordinary. She hit the nearby section with an angled blast of an
energy-beam
, expecting to see large chunks blasted away by the force of her attack.

Nothing happened.

“
That’s not right,” she said as much to herself as Asari. Motioning him back, she attacked the wall with an even more powerful beam, but once again nothing happened.

“
That is not granite,” she said unnecessarily. “I think you might be right that something is here, but I don’t know how we are going to get through. I can’t even mark it.”

The two of them ran their hands along the surface, working first to the right and then back to the left.

“
It’s all the same,” Shyar complained. “I’ve never seen anything like this, but I can’t sense anything but natural rock.”

Asari, who had no magical ability at all, was even more limited in his senses, but something continued to pull at him. Then suddenly he said, “This is the spot.”

Shyar turned to look at where Asari pointed and was shocked to see him disappearing into the wall of granite as if it wasn’t there. In a matter of seconds he had completely disappeared. She rushed to the spot and placed her hands in the exact spot where Asari had disappeared and felt nothing different. The rock was as solid here as anywhere else.

She stood back and stared at the spot, a small kernel of panic starting to form inside her. Then, suddenly, Asari walked back out into view, seemingly appearing out of the solid rock.

He beamed. It was the first smile she had seen since Jolan had been placed in the Mage’s Box.

“
You’ve got to see,” he exclaimed. “This is it. It’s a big open area inside. All of this we see is fake. The mountain doesn’t start until a couple of hundred yards back, and there is a large opening in the side. There are also a couple of planes of some kind. They are huge and very different from the ones I flew with Jolan on Earth. They also look pretty beat up. Come on.”

“
I can’t,” Shyar told him.

Asari looked at her. “It’s easy. Right through here,” he said and stuck his hand into what looked like solid granite.

Shyar walked over next to him, but her arm encountered a solid barrier of rock. “See,” she said in frustration.

Asari was surprised, but no amount of trying or seeking nearby locations made any difference. Shyar wasn’t getting through.

“
I’m going to go look,” Asari said finally. “Wait here for me.”

“
Asari, wait!” Shyar said, but he was already slipping through the rock barrier and in seconds was once again lost from view.

Shyar shook her head, then looked for a place to sit down. Now she was completely alone. She looked at the unfamiliar forest so far from home and everything she knew. There was no telling what dangers Asari might face inside, and she wasn’t there to help him. All he had was his bow and the pistol, not much considering. She couldn’t know if he would make it back out, or whether she would ever see him again. There was nothing to do but make camp and wait, hoping for the best. If he didn’t return by morning, she would have to decide how to proceed on her own.

“
Dragonpiss!” she exclaimed, and pulled out the Travel Box so she could obtain access to the writing implements and describe to those on the ship what had happened. They needed to be able to take the information back to Cobalo in case none of them returned.

They were beginning to gain the upper hand once again, but he was concerned at how slowly the efforts had been progressing. Clearly it would be spring before his forces would be ready to move forward with serious intentions. Cheurt walked back to his library and stood looking out the window. He had expected to control Seret by now. It would now be another season before he was able to accomplish that goal. Controlling Seret would leave Angon isolated and vulnerable, their last ally gone. He was certain they had run out of surprises to confound him, and with what he had stumbled upon through the fool that had tried to attack him, the outcome was certain. It was the timing that he couldn’t predict.

The experiments with the portals had gone reasonably well. He was certain they had mapped the locations in their lands and most of the portals inside Kimlelm. The locals had been a great help there. He had his troops use simple motivation. The word went out that all known portals were to be reported. After a week, if any portals were discovered that hadn’t been reported, the locals were punished by killing a random sixteen citizens for each undisclosed portal that was found. It didn’t matter whether they were men, women, or children. The first sixteen the army found were executed on the spot. It hadn’t taken long for the word to get out. After seeing their support from Seret and Angon fade away, the people were discouraged, and this time they gave in far easier. Perhaps the setbacks had all been for the better in the long run.

They also knew of a number of portals in both Seret and Angon. Not as many as he would like, and he suspected most of them were being watched, but he had means of quickly getting people into those places now. They also knew the addresses of at least one portal, and he suspected two, within the College of Mages itself. That had been a major achievement. Of course, they had been surprised there. Unlike some of the other areas that had been rigged with explosives, easy enough to deal with now that they understood what was happening and now that they had the barriers to augment their shields, there had been something that hindered their use of magic. He was still trying to understand that. The triad that had made it back was quite adamant that they had emerged in a room defended by soldiers and mages, and that they simply could not execute a single spell. Their shields, which had been in place as they walked through the portal, had remained intact, but nothing new was possible. The restriction didn’t seem to apply to the mages on the far end, who had attacked with several types of fighting spells, none of which had been sufficient to overcome the powerful shield of the triad. The second triad, of course, hadn’t returned at all. Angon had some kind of weapon, and he needed to know more about it. He was going to have to be careful about where he sent his people until he understood what they were doing. He had only so many triads, although that was changing. Soon he would have a hundred such teams, and then he would be in a position to cause some serious damage.

At first he had been excited when his teams had reported back that they had found a buried city. He was sure it was Ygooro, and indeed it appeared it was, but Angon had beat him there. Somehow they had cleaned out every scrap of information from the city, leaving behind a bare hulk to taunt him. He would have those records, but now it would have to wait until he owned Angon as well.

Other projects that had been delayed or virtually destroyed were getting back on track. He had cleared out the town around the Academy and the castle. The entire area was now a military complex, filled with wizards who were learning the triad techniques and younger wizards that were being trained in combat spells. Many were far younger than usual, but the ranks of the wizards had been badly depleted in the past year.

After a great deal of consideration, Cheurt was forming his own triad. The triad process required a great deal of openness between the three wizards involved. He hadn’t wanted to share some of his knowledge and insights with others, but if there were to be so many triads, he needed to be sure he was far more powerful than any of the groups he created. He finally decided he could trust Ranul, his long time supporter and former archer, and Karli, a female wizard with whom he’d shared more than secrets for some time. He was far stronger than either of them, and they knew a fair bit about his goals anyway. The strength of the triad was ultimately determined by it’s strongest member, so he would still be the strongest triad in existence, and not have any real concerns about his fellow triad partners.

On another front, new factories had been built to produce the gas which had worked so effectively. He was also getting a few more gliders, although without the devices from Earth, they were far less effective. He suspected he would lose at least half of the aircraft, so the missions would have to be very selective. There were other methods of deploying the gas. None as effective or with the range of the planes, but they would make his enemies cautious. He’d seen how effective it had been before Jolan had destroyed his airforce.

Kimlelm was once again falling into place. They were regaining firm control, and gradually thinning out the groups that had formed to oppose their rule. He wouldn’t be so soft this time around. The response to anyone suspected of being with the rebels would be severe.

Cheurt checked the time. It was almost time when he could look in on Jolan again. The man’s activities had him greatly perplexed. For weeks he had been on a ship headed somewhere Cheurt hadn’t been able to discern. Then, close to a week ago Cheurt had observed them on a huge lake. Tilano? He had wondered at first, but once again this lake didn’t seem to have been drained. Then he saw them fighting the Culpa spiders. Cheurt was very familiar with the spider and had used its venom in the past. That had to mean they were in the Lost Territories. What could possibly have their interest there, and what should he be doing about it? Their ship had to be anchored reasonably close to Ale’ald. Perhaps he could send one of his warships and destroy it.

Even more disturbing was the fact that for four days he hadn’t been able to get any images at all. Somehow Jolan had managed to find a way to block everything from Cheurt. That should have been impossible, and for a while Cheurt wondered if something was wrong with his staff. Tests against other subjects worked properly, however, so it had to be Jolan or something he was doing. Then last night the image had unexpectedly returned, although Cheurt hadn’t been able to see much. It appeared Jolan was in some kind of odd laboratory, and he seemed to be reclining or in bed. That fit with a message he had received today through his network from his prime source in Angon that claimed Jolan might be dying. Perhaps that was why he’d been unable to receive any images for several days. But why had things changed?

The view had faded the previous night just when Cheurt thought he glimpsed something remarkable. He was anxious to discover what he would see tonight. He paced while he waited. He still had to wait at least another hour before he could make the attempt.

Jolan’s first sight when he was able to pry his eyes open again was not something one would choose to see under such circumstances. The massive maw filled with razor sharp teeth that was partially open just a few inches from his face was enough to scare anyone back to unconsciousness. It was a good thing he was still partially drugged. He half expected to see bits of decaying flesh in among the teeth, and a foul breath from the decaying remains of the creature’s last meal. Neither was the case, and in fact the breath almost smelled of cinnamon. The low grumbling growl that originated deep in the chest of the creature didn’t help either.

Of course, why he was drugged and where he was continued to elude him. He had no memories that would lead him to understand his being here, wherever here was. He could feel his senses coming back to him rapidly as whatever had been given to him seemed to dissipate quickly. He tried to find anything that would link his present situation to what he could last recall, and discovered he could observe nothing that helped.

It was fortunate that he could see a grinning face he recognized in the background. Several feet away he could see the relieved and smiling face of his wife Shyar. That meant the beast that hovered over him probably wasn’t a danger despite the screaming of his senses to run for his life. A huge paw reached toward him with six appendages, each far thicker than his thumb and equipped with sharp talons that looked as if they were mostly retracted on each of the digits. Jolan wasn’t sure, but it appeared that the creature had the equivalent of two opposable thumbs, one placed on either side of the hand, which ought to afford him some interesting abilities with those hands. The hand gently touched his forehead, then withdrew.

As the hand pulled away, the creature leaned back and stood almost upright, showing Jolan its full size for the first time. He must be lying on a high bed, because he was just over waist high to the creature which stood a full ten feet tall with all other proportions to match. It had to weigh almost a thousand pounds, yet seemed nimble enough, capable of very delicate and controlled motions. Jolan wondered at the strength that must be in those massive arms. The biceps had to be thicker than his thigh, and under the bluish green scaly skin, large muscles flexed as the arm moved.