The Baldari (Book 3) (24 page)

Fen stepped out of the small training booth where he had sat focused on the screen in front of him for the past several glass.  He had worked his way completely through the training scroll twice, making certain he fully understood everything that was there.  He was disappointed.  He had hoped there would be more, not the least of which would have been instructions that showed how to access the thousands of scrolls that filled the room nearby.  Either whoever had created the training manual considered that obvious, something that Fen didn’t believe, or the protection was something that had come later, and was something they were going to have to find a different means to overcome.

He stretched his back as he stood fully erect for the first time in several glass, and looked around the facility.  It was very quiet and he knew he was alone.  Both Ash’urn and Lyes had come with him this morning, but both had left.  Ash’urn had told him he would have to depart early.  A meeting with the head wizard about something.  Fen knew that Daim was supposed to be someone special, but he had never grown close to the wizard like he had many of the others he’d met at the Outpost.  Knowing that the man had lived thousands of years ago made Fen slightly uncomfortable.

Fen was surprised that Lyes had left without saying anything.  He and the Co-Director of the Guild had started out being friends when Fen was new to Nals and the University.  So much had changed since then.  It hadn’t slipped past Fen that Lyes was moody of late.  It was more than the pressures of helping direct the Guild after Carif had been captured.  While Fen was still too young to fully understand the intricacies of such relationships, he was astute enough to know the change in his friend was related to Nycoh in some way.  There was a problem of some kind, and as a result, Lyes was irritable.

Before he also left, Fen decided to walk into the main storage area of the repository.  The rows of shelves so tantalizingly filled with scrolls and texts that he would like to examine stretched to the wall in the distance.  His legs were still stiff and he walked slowly, pressing his palm against the spot revealed in the lessons.  The nearest shelf revealed the contents that were stored just beyond the barrier, conveniently in his language.  That miraculous translation ability extended to the markings here in the main room.

Medical techniques
, read the inscription.  He couldn’t help wonder what capabilities might be waiting just out of reach.  He pressed his palm against other cases as he strolled along. 
Astronomy, Life Extension
, and finally
Weaponry
.  The last he knew would be of use in their present situation.  Unfortunately, there was the small matter of the protective barrier.  He even found a section that might be applicable to resolving that little problem, but like the other scrolls, everything in that section was behind the very barrier he needed to get past.

He had learned that the working readers in the main room would translate any and all of the old scrolls that had been recovered over the years.  That included items found in Ald-del, the books that Ash’urn had accumulated in a lifetime of wandering the Three Kingdoms, as well as everything in the combined storage libraries of the Guild and Outpost.  That represented quite a number of books, but they were not going to necessarily be on topics that they found of particular interest.  They would be helpful, but the learning would be nowhere as systematic as having access to the materials here would have been.

Perhaps the most useful discovery the training scroll had revealed to him was the special feature built into many of the ancient texts, especially those meant for training.  Those meant to teach symbolic magic and the spells supposedly could be made to voice the triggering phrase corresponding to the written symbols.  Fen wasn’t sure how that worked, but the enunciation was supposed to be mental, something only the reader would hear.  If true, he would be able to hear, and then hopefully repeat the phrases that went with the symbolic spells in these books.  Of course, that meant if the books worked that way, and if he had the ability to “hear” such mental renders.  Perhaps the ancients had mental abilities he lacked. 

He hoped the texts they had still worked that way.  The clues to the elusive green magic used by Carif and her followers might finally be revealed.  The symbols existed on the former Saltique’s staff, so they knew the spell, but they hadn’t managed to decipher the phrase.  If they could assemble the pieces from various sources, they might finally learn how to trigger the magic.

Fen was still considering the implications when he heard footsteps coming his way.  He turned sharply wondering who it might be, and spotted Lyes, his arms holding a number of books.

“I assume you discovered that the readers should be able to translate any of the old texts we have,” Lyes said as he approached. 

“I finished the entire scroll,” Fen explained.

“You got farther than I did,” Lyes said.  “When I got to that part I decided I wanted to see if it really works.  I went back for a few samples.”  He showed Fen the books he carried.

Fen accepted a couple of the books and they made their way to one of the operational readers in the main room.  Fen knew how to operate the readers after his completion of the training session, and he confidently slipped the first of the texts into the compartment.  It took only moments to establish the translation worked as promised.  This book was a manual for healing by Casters.  That might be very useful. 

As they placed the other books into the reader to see what they had, Fen explained to Lyes about the supposed capability for the ancient texts to teach triggering phrases.  Lyes was immediately doubtful but they selected one of the texts that Lyes had brought and Fen followed the instructions he had memorized and tried it.  He smiled broadly at Lyes.  “It works.  Try it.”  Then he explained how it was to be done.

“Do you think Carif’s book will work this way?” Lyes asked excitedly.  “Come.  We’ve got to get back to the Guild.”

The ancient book worked as expected, and soon they had most of the spell sorted out.  They had been almost right on their translations.  The problem remained the missing pages from the book.  They knew the symbols, and had found them in other texts mixed into other spells.  Since they hadn’t known the triggering phrases there either. It hadn’t helped.  It took several glass and was getting quite late when the two Casters finally had assembled all of the pieces that they believed were required.

“Do you really think it will work?” Fen asked hopefully.

“I can get Carif’s staff,” Lyes said.  “Let’s give it a try.”

A quarter of a glass later they were outside, the former Saltique’s staff in hand.  Being the head of the Guild made such matters easier, and Lyes had been able to walk into the special facility where they had stored such items without having to explain himself.  Lyes focused jointly on a large bolder across the grounds where the Guild Headquarters had once stood, as well as on the string of glyphs that defined the spell.  Then he spoke the phrase he and Fen had assembled for half a dozen spells. 

A beam of pure bright green energy shot across the hillside and blasted the stone bolder into dust.  Lyes couldn’t be certain, but he felt his beam was even more intense than that he had seen members of the Eight create.

“It works,” cheered Fen, somewhat surprised at their success.

“It does indeed,” Lyes said happily.  He wasn’t certain he was so pleased because the important secret had finally been revealed, or that he knew he had done something that even Nycoh hadn’t managed.  At least as far as he knew. 

“Come on,” Lyes urged.  “We have to inform Ardra, and then we need to go to the Outpost.”

“Tonight?” Fen asked.  “Can’t it wait until morning?”

“It’s not as late there as here, and no, this must be demonstrated immediately.  Who knows when there might be another attack.”

Jeen stepped up to the door of the large three-story house where Rigo and Mitty lived.  It was a far larger home than the two required, but represented a gift former Queen Rosul had presented to them upon their Binding, in part because she felt Sedfair owed them, and in part because she had a special place for the couple in her heart.  Located in an upscale section of Nals where most of the nobles lived, Jeen had chosen to walk from the site where the new government buildings were being started to the house.  She wanted to see how Sedfair was fairing under the new Queen, and she’d wanted time to think.  Rigo and Mitty knew she was coming.  They had been informed about the attack on Roin through channels because Jeen had been delayed and hadn’t made the trip the day before as she’d initially hoped.

Mitty answered the door herself.  Neither Rigo nor Mitty wanted servants, and they refused to conform to the nobility image that many wished to push upon them.

“Jeen!” Mitty said happily at seeing her old friend.  Even with magic, the distances between Sedfair and the Three Kingdoms was great, and they didn’t get together as often as either might have liked.

Jeen examined her friend as she stepped inside.  Mitty looked happy and vibrant.  Being pregnant agreed with her, and she had somehow avoided the usual discomforts that so many were forced to endure the first few months.  Rigo had heard the women talking, and walked into the room to greet Jeen.

“Any word?” he asked solemnly.

“Nothing on the missing wizards,” Jeen replied.  “There have been no more attacks, and we have no way to judge how long it might take to turn them to the enemy’s side.”

“I cannot believe the entire city has been leveled,” Mitty said.

“Not much could be saved,” Jeen agreed.  “There are a few areas well away from the harbor that survived, but most of the city will have to be entirely rebuilt.”

“I think there will be more attacks soon,” Mitty said.

“Have you had additional visions?” Jeen asked.

“Not of attacks, but the woman I see is more active of late.  I believe she might be coming closer to freeing herself from the pod which holds her.  I can watch her almost at will now, until she becomes aware of me.  Then, somehow, she is able to block my view.  I believe it interrupts whatever she is doing to do so, but she prevents me from seeing her.  Not that I know what she is doing.”

“You are certain that she is aware of you?”

“Without a doubt.  I sense she doesn’t like me very much.”

“You need to be careful.  If she ever learns who you are, she might direct her forces against you.”

“Rigo keeps warning me of the same thing.  He wants to relocate.  He says too many know of this place and we could become targets.  But where would we go?  It is beginning to seem they can appear anywhere.”

“Daim wishes us to come to the Outpost?” Rigo asked, changing the subject. He knew that Mitty wasn’t going to agree to relocate just yet.  To be honest, he wasn’t sure where they could go, remain accessible, and still be safe.  His emergency plan if anything went wrong would be to take them to the emergency caves, and from there to the island where Queen Rosul had created a facility for her people some time ago.  Most people still didn’t know about the existence of the facility.

“The day after tomorrow,” Jeen agreed.  “He hopes to get everyone together and see if we can come up with any ideas.  To be honest, it’s starting to look somewhat grim.”

“Something else is on your mind,” Mitty said.  “You didn’t come all the way here simply to tell Rigo he was requested to come.”

Jeen smiled.  Mitty knew her very well.  “There is something else that has come up.  I would like to show Rigo something.”

Rigo looked at his old friend questioningly.  “Come into the library.  We can sit and talk there.”

“Now, what do you want to show me?” he asked when they were settled.  “You sound a little mysterious.”

“Daria came to see me the other day,” Jeen began.  “She had several large wagons of artifacts that were discovered by the Wanderers in a cave near an old village in eastern Lopal.  They had been intended for us some time ago, but were intercepted by bandits.  The bandits killed a number of the Wanderers, including Daria’s stepfather.  As you might expect, she and Kaler went after the culprits.  I gather those responsible for the killings no longer had a need for the items when Daria was finished with them, and she brought them to the Outpost.”  Jeen didn’t have to explain what must have happened to those involved.  They both knew Daria very well, and how she dealt with such problems.

“Great Risos!” Rigo swore.  “Is she okay?”  Rigo knew how much the Wanderers meant to her, and how close she had been to her stepfather.

“She hides her feelings well, but I think she will be now that those responsible have paid for their actions.” 

“Where is she now?” Rigo asked.  “Mitty and I need to visit her.”

“I believe she is back at the orphanage,” Jeen said.  “She said she had some knife sharpening to do, and then something about gelding.  They have started raising horses, you know.”

Rigo knew all about Daria and her knives.  Her stepfather, Jurde, had been an expert knife maker, and had taught Daria how to care for and sharpen blades of all kinds.  She knew how to put a keen, lasting edge on a weapon.  But Rigo had a different interpretation of what her gelding comment might mean.  Rigo suspected that Daria wasn’t yet finished with her payback mission.  There must be something she hadn’t told Jeen.  Probably because she didn’t want to risk interference.  He was about to ask Jeen for more detail about the attack on the Wanderers when Jeen pulled a sheet of vellum out of her travel purse and unfolded it. She pushed it across the table toward him.

Curious, Rigo forgot about his question and reached for the paper.  He could see there was a drawing, but it was upside down and he couldn’t tell of whom it might be.  When he had the paper in his hand, he rotated it and let his eyes drop to the page.  The drawing was rough, as if the artist didn’t know what he wanted his subject to look like.  Clearly it had been done without the person before the artist.  It took him a moment before the shape of the face began to register.  Then, suddenly it snapped into place.  He was slow because he would not have considered the person who stared out at him from the paper.

“Koess!” he said suddenly, the word almost exploding from him.  He looked up sharply at Jeen.

“That’s what others have said as well,” Jeen said calmly.

“Where did you get this?” Rigo asked.  “What is this about?”  He hadn’t thought about the young wizard that had been lost during his ill-fated trip into the Ruins so many years ago in a very long time.  Koess had stepped into a
Bypass
and never exited the far side with the rest of them.  It was one of their first experiences with the dangers of the Ruins. 

“I had it drawn,” Jeen said.  “Daria described what she had seen, and the artist made the sketch.  This was the best he could do from the description Daria gave me.  She said it was a good representation.  After she left, I showed it to a number of people at the Outpost.  Those who knew him say there is no question it’s him.”

“I don’t understand,” Rigo said.  “As far as I know, Daria never met Koess.”

“She didn’t,” Jeen agreed.  “She was not involved with many of the wizards at the Outpost in those days, and had never visited during the time Koess was there.  It is also clear, he was not one of those who visited her orphanage.”

“So where did Daria claim to see him?” Rigo asked.

“I know you are aware that Daria has learned how to make a
Bypass
or perhaps more appropriately a
Doorway
since she uses the symbolic magic to do so.”

Rigo nodded.  “She is quite remarkable.  The skill must have come in handy when she was chasing down her latest adversaries.”

Jeen smiled.  “Actually it was during that adventure she claims to have seen the figure in the drawing.  After locating the stolen items, she attempted to make a
Doorway
to move the artifacts to the Orphanage, when she claims the attempt was somehow corrupted.  The fringes of the arch that appeared were not the usual yellow color, but somewhat purple.  In addition, the area under the arch didn’t look through to what was just beyond as is normal, but was somewhat cloudy, and this individual could be seen moving through the haze.  She was quite clear on that.  Wisely, she elected to forgo stepping into the
Doorway
, and closed it.  She left the cave where the items had been stored and tried again, wondering if something in the cave was responsible.  This time she succeeded in creating a proper
Doorway
, and moved the items home.  She thought nothing more about this until we were talking, and she asked me if I’d ever seen such a thing.”

Rigo was stunned.  “She claims to have seen Koess?  He looked alive?  How could that be?  He disappeared into the
Bypass
more than a dozen years ago.”

Rigo tried to recall if the portal
that had been created at the chasm had been distorted or oddly colored in anyway.  He simply didn’t know.  It was too long ago and at the time he had been entirely focused on the vast chasm that stretched out before them, and not at all on the
Bypass
. 

“He can’t be alive,” Rigo said, but wasn’t sure he believed it.  “What do Daim or Ash’urn think?”

“Daim doesn’t know Koess, of course.  He thinks it might be possible he could be trapped in some halfway place created by the
Bypass
.  Apparently there were thoughts along these lines in his day.  Others had rumored lost, and theories were put forth that the
Bypass
might be responsible.  Ash’urn finds it interesting, but has nothing upon which to make a judgment.”

“We have to go to Daria.  I want to visit this cave again and see if we can recreate what she saw.  Perhaps there is a chance to bring him back.”

Rigo had always felt responsible for the loss of the young wizard, feeling they pressured him into stepping into the
Bypass
that crossed the chasm against his will.  If there was any chance he might be alive somehow, they had to try.

“It’s something else we can talk about when you visit in a couple of days.  We will go see Daria after the meeting, and have her show us the spot.  I almost went with her the other day, but had an odd feeling at the time you might want to be involved.”

Just then Mitty made a choking sound.  Jeen and Rigo looked her way.  She sat with her eyes wide open, but unseeing.  “No,” she hissed almost too softly to be heard.  Rigo hesitated knowing it was a vision.  They came sometimes in the daylight hours now.  He hated to interrupt her, but worried when she was like this.

He was about to reach out and touch her shoulder when her eyes refocused and looked at them.  “Burke’s gone,” she said hoarsely.

“Gone?  What do you mean?” Rigo asked.

“I saw him screaming, then he and his entire team simply collapsed.  The Baldari came pouring out of the trees and gathered them all up, stepping into a
Doorway
, taking them somewhere.”

“We have to go after them,” Rigo said as he stood up.  He’d never forget that Burke had come for him when he’d been held prisoner.

“No,” Mitty said emphatically.  “They aren’t there anymore and you won’t be able to tell where they’ve been taken.  Also, any who go to the site of the attack will either die or be captured themselves.  There is no doubt about that.  I know it more certainly than anything I’ve seen before.  You cannot go.”

“But it’s Burke,” Rigo said.  He looked at a worried Mitty.  Rigo knew he owed it to his pregnant consort to be careful.  He also needed to stay close given a very real threat in his mind from the woman Mitty alone was able to spy upon.  On the other hand, he couldn’t simply standby and let his friend be captured.  “We’ve got to help him,” he said finally.

“There’s nothing you can do,” Mitty said. “Nothing.”

Jeen stood up.  “We need to get to the Outpost immediately.  Daim needs to know what has happened.”