The Baldari (Book 3) (36 page)

“They haven’t returned yet,” Daim explained, as he led Daria and Kaler down the hallway of the Outpost to the point that had been designated for portals for the forces that had gone to Pagner.  Daria and Kaler both carried their weapons.  They had come here uncertain if they would be needed for some kind of mission.  Not knowing, they had come properly equipped.  All they had known before arriving was that Rigo had been looking for them some days before and had asked Nyll to have them come to the Outpost when they returned.  The request hadn’t been urgent, so they had stayed at the Orphanage the previous night, and then come to the Outpost this morning.  They were shocked to discover the attack on Kellmore’s capital was in progress.  Now it was apparently over.  Already several groups had reported in, so a preliminary assessment of how the battle had gone was available. 

“Losses have been high,” Daim explained.  “Pagner is in flames, and Kellmore has lost its royal family.  We have also lost a number of our people, and while it appears we have held the line and prevented a complete destruction of the city, we can’t be certain as yet whether the enemy forces will return.  The impression from those who have returned is that we surprised them, and that we significantly reduced the number of those who control magic and can be used against us.  They are withdrawing now, but in a battle that doesn’t mean the attacks are over.  Our forces will have to remain on alert until we have evidence this is truly over.”

Daria wanted to ask about their friends, but she knew if Daim had known anything he would have already told them.  They would just have to wait and hope that they had come through unscathed.

They were about to turn away, when Tara appeared out of a
Bypass
.  She looked drawn and tired, but unharmed.  She saw the three of them waiting, and walked over to them.

“Did you see Burke?” Daim asked, knowing that was the main reason Tara had insisted on being one of those who helped defend Pagner. 

Tara shook her head.  “It was too confusing with everyone jumping from location to location.  I heard that he was there, and in fact appeared to be one of the leaders, but I never saw him at all.”

Kaler noted the tightness of her posture, and could sense how much it disturbed her to report this.  He’d heard there was trouble between Burke and Tara, but whatever the nature, she clearly still worried about him.

“I brought back prisoners,” Tara said, changing the subject.  Her words immediately got Daim’s attention.

“Someone followed you back into the caves?” he asked.

Once gain Tara’s head bobbed. 

“One of the captive Casters and nine of the Baldari warriors.  They
Bypassed
into the cave right behind me.  The special knockout gas that Ash’urn came up with worked as advertised.  The whole lot of them are sedated and locked up.  The medical wizards are hoping to bring the Caster around before too long.  He has been banded, so he shouldn’t be able to do anything.  We might finally get some answers.”

“He’s being held at the remote facility?” Daim asked.

“Just in case he can do more than we expect,” Tara agreed.  “Although, from what we observed in Pagner, the Casters and wizards who have been abducted and turned don’t appear to have any powers beyond the rest of us.  They want the Sedfair team to come out to the remote site and be prepared to perform a Reading, but they wanted you to know what was happening.  They thought you might want to be there for it.”

“Without a doubt,” Daim agreed.  “This might be a chance to learn what has been happening to those captured, and more importantly, where they are being taken.”

“What about the Baldari?” Kaler asked.

“We will see what we can learn from them as well,” Daim replied.  “It will be interesting to see if any survive.  Sedfair has had a problem, and we’ve seen it as well, that those captured die very quickly once in captivity.  Our plan is to remove the sedation from those captured one at a time, and see what we can learn before they expire.  Of course, we don’t know what causes the deaths, and they might die off even though they are under the effect of drugs.  We’ll have to wait and see.”

Daim turned back to Tara.  “What are their immediate plans for the Caster?”

“They were going to scan him while unconscious and see if they can find anything unusual.  Other than that, they are waiting for your go ahead.”

“Good,” Daim said, and then turned as Daria pointed toward the new arrivals.  Nycoh, Rigo, and Jeen had all come back together.  Much like the other arrivals, they appeared tired, and other than a small cut Jeen had received from flying rock, appeared unharmed.  Rigo briefly smiled sadly to Daria and Kaler, then quickly summarized the status of things.  His report was consistent with the news the others who had returned had brought.

“There were more than we expected,” Rigo said, confirming the worrisome reports Daim had already received.  “I don’t know how many total, but from the number I saw killed, and the fewer number of portals used to take the survivors away, I’d guess we eliminated about two-thirds of them.  We can thank Sedfair for that.  Without the Casters they sent us, the results could have been far different.  The good news is they had no magic we haven’t seen before, and only Shym appeared capable of producing
Greenfire
.  On that we had a clear advantage.  The shields we feared didn’t materialize for the most part.  But Burke clearly was shielded, which indicates they can be given the ability.  It still might be something to fear in future attacks.  Given how badly we hurt them, the need for shielding will have become obvious.”

“You say that Burke was shielded.  Any others?” Daim asked.

“As far as I know only Shym and Burke demonstrated the protective barrier.  We will have to ask everyone as they return to be certain.  Oh, and while the shields protected them, it appeared they could not fight back while being attacked.  We had Shym under intense fire for a spell, but had to flee when others came after us.  During that time, she never unleashed a single magical beam.”

“That might be important,” Daim agreed, wondering how they could then capture someone temporarily immobilized in such a fashion.  Then he told the new arrivals about the prisoners they had taken.

Rigo nodded his understanding.  He knew they would be subjected to a Reading, and felt a momentary discomfort at his ready acceptance of a procedure he had viewed as loathsome not too many months ago.  He didn’t have to like it, but war changed one’s values, and not in a way he felt entirely comfortable with.

More were returning now.  A force was being kept in place against a possible return.  Those who had fought would be given rest, while more rested wizards would keep watch for the short term.  Rigo didn’t feel that there would be another attack.  Something about the withdrawal, and the large losses they had inflicted on those with magic suggested this would be it for now.  Of course, the Brryn woman might have even more abducted people in reserve, but given the appearance of both Burke and Shym, that didn’t seem likely.

Daria smiled broadly as she saw Suline step out of nowhere as she arrived after following a similar path to that taken by Tara.  She’d had no one follow her however.  Daria had been concerned for her friend when one of those who had returned earlier had reported she thought she’d seen Suline being carried off by a group of Baldari into one of the escape
Bypasses
.  That obviously had been wrong, as here she was.

Daria and Suline embraced.  When she stepped away from the hug, Suline turned to Rigo.  She knew that Daim was in charge, but she had known Rigo far longer and had a history with and respect for him.

“I followed them,” she said, immensely pleased.

“You followed who?” Daim asked.

“The Baldari and the captured Casters,” Suline said.  “I know where their staging area is.”

That caught everyone’s attention. 

“How could you do that?” Jeen asked.

“I stepped through one of their
Doorways
as they were retreating, then came back.  I can go there any time we want.”

The importance of this information was not lost on anyone.

“Do you have any idea where it might be?” Rigo asked.

“At this point, only that it is near some mountains.  From the brief look I had at the map Jeen found, I’d guess it is much farther south than we would have believed.  We will have to explore and see where we end up.”

“What’s there?” Daim asked.

Suline was about to explain when she had a better idea.

“Have a look,” she said, as she created one of her unique
Ghost Doorways
.

The
Doorway
opened with a view of the far side.  The
Doorway
Suline created was a hand span wide, and floating in the air.  This was one of the spying
Doorways
, and they could all see what was on the far end. 

“There’s the distinctive mountain I hope will help us locate the position,” Suline said.  Then she moved the far end around so the others could see the staging area, with the dilapidated remains of the village in the background.  Suline could see that the Baldari had thinned somewhat, and were now clustered in groups.  Even as she watched, a
Doorway
opened and some of the Baldari stepped into it and disappeared.

“Are they attacking again?” Jeen asked.  She spoke softly, not certain if she could be heard by the forces on the far side.  That wouldn’t be the case with a normal
Doorway
, but she wasn’t entirely certain how this oddity worked.

“I don’t think so,” Suline said.  “The energy doesn’t look right.”  She explained how the Baldari had changed from fierce fighters to more docile individuals as they had arrived at the staging area.  “I think they are being sent home.”

Rigo agreed.  He could see several of the captured wizards and Casters loosely gathered in the background.  If there was to be another attack, he believed they would be heading the charge with the Baldari.  If he was wrong, word would reach them in a matter of moments.

“Over there,” Rigo said, pointing to where the distinctive group of wizards waited.

Suline moved the port of the
Ghost Doorway
towards the location that Rigo had pointed to.  As they watched, the listless group of magicians waited for something to happen.

“They appear drugged,” Daim observed.

Nycoh had been thinking the same thing.

“It looks like they are leaving,” Jeen said, pointing toward a
Bypass
that had just formed off to the right of the group.

She was right.  They watched as the first of the group stepped into the open portal and disappeared.

“That’s Shym,” Suline pointed.  “I was tempted to take a shot at her when I saw her there, but decided it was more important to be sure I got back with this information.”

“That was the right choice,” Daim agreed, watching as the dangerous woman moved slowly toward the portal.

Rigo was the first to sense Daria was in motion.  As the others had watched, she had slipped the longbow off her shoulder and swiftly notched an arrow.  As Rigo’s eyes turned to his friend, he saw her release the shaft.  He turned as it flew unerringly across the short space to the open portal of the
Ghost Doorway
and disappeared. 

Daim gasped as the arrow appeared in the space of the gathering area so far away.  True as one might expect from a shot by the former assassin, the arrow quickly crossed the short space and buried itself into the chest of the former member of Carif’s elite Eight.  Daria’s bow wasn’t the strongest bow around, and nowhere near as powerful as the crossbow that Kaler carried, but even so, the arrow nearly passed through the woman.  Clearly she wasn’t shielded, probably feeling herself safe at this far away location.  She wasn’t.  The shot had passed through her heart, and she dropped soundlessly to the ground.

“That’s got to be the longest shot ever made,” Kaler said approvingly, as he watched the deadly Caster crumple.

Everyone else was still too stunned to speak.  It had long been known that solid objects, rocks, wagons, even arrows, could be launched through an open portal and they would appear on the far side.  The difficulty with most portals was that one couldn’t see what was on the far side.  One stepped blindly into the things, not seeing what was there until he or she appeared at the other side.  That meant shooting an arrow was a fruitless exercise, having no idea what was being targeted.  Suline’s
Ghost Doorway
had just demonstrated an additional very useful capability. One could not only see what was on the far side, but as Daria had so deftly demonstrated, one could target it with immunity from this side.

“Great Risos!” Rigo said softly.  He couldn’t help but wonder if magic could be launched through the portal.  That was something else that everyone knew simply couldn’t be done.  Fire a beam of
Brightfire
through the open arch of a
Bypass
, and instead of appearing at the far side, it simply acted as if the
Bypass
didn’t exist, striking whatever was behind it.   Perhaps the
Ghost Doorway
was different.  If they could launch
Brightfire
through one of Suline’s special
Doorways
, they might have a very deadly weapon.  Suddenly he hoped that the Brryn didn’t know of such
Doorways
, nor had the ability to make them.