The Baldari (Book 3) (51 page)

“There must be something that we can do?” Rigo said, looking around him desperately.

Ash’urn weakly grasped his wrist.  “There is nothing.  Now listen, I must do something.  It is important, so be silent for a moment.”

Rigo and Nycoh watched as Ash’urn held tightly to Rigo’s wrist and muttered softly.  Neither could hear what he was saying.

“Casting won’t work either,” Rigo objected.

Ash’urn’s response was a tightening of his grip upon Rigo’s wrist, urging him to be silent.  After a moment Ash’urn stopped and opened his eyes.  Rigo felt slightly disoriented, but assumed that was the shock of what was happening.

“It wasn’t magic,” Ash’urn said hoarsely.  “Not exactly, anyway.  It is something I learned a long time ago.  It can only be done once.  I couldn’t be certain it would work, but I sense it did.”

Whatever Ash’urn had done, it had taken a great deal of his remaining strength.  He looked whiter and more fragile than Rigo had ever seen him.

“I’m sorry, Ash’urn,” Rigo said, his voice barely working.  There was no doubt in his mind.  His friend, the always upbeat scholar, was going to die.  Once that happened, there was no way to bring him back.  Even magic could not cross that boundary.

“Don’t be,” Ash’urn said.  “I knew what was likely to happen.  It’s been wonderful,” he said, his good eye momentarily bright.  “You showed me I was right.  You proved to me that magic existed.  You made me part of the grand things you did.  I was able to explore parts of the Ruins unseen by anyone else.”

Ash’urn drew a cautious breath and continued.

“We found a new land together.  What a grand adventure.  I was able to even learn magic myself.  Me!  I became a master of powers I could never have dreamed about.  Thank you, Rigo!  There are no regrets!  And Nycoh.  You were the daughter and friend I needed.”

Ash’urn coughed, then spoke again, his voice weaker.

“You two are the hope of the kingdoms.  You must not fail.  Rigo, you have been idle.  I understand why.  Magic has cost you dearly, but you have to accept that and move forward.  It is time to claim your full heritage.  I have given you what you failed to acquire on your own.  Use it to end this threat.  Now, go, before the Brryn learns you are here.”

Rigo and Nycoh’s eyes met.  Both were wet.  How could they leave Ash’urn?  How could he die?

Rigo looked down to say something, and noted that Ash’urn’s single eye was open and staring at nothing.  In that moment he had passed. 

“Nooo!” Nycoh cried.

Just then Daria and Kaler ran over, the attacking warriors defeated. 

“We’ve got to go,” Kaler said.  “More are coming.”  Then he saw Ash’urn’s staring eye.  The energy drained from him as he realized their longtime companion was gone.  Daria had seen at almost the same time, and was stunned to silence as well.

Rigo could barely think.  His head was stuffy and his heart was heavy.

“He urged us to finish this,” Rigo said.  “We will do what he asked and then take him home for the send off he deserves.”

Daria pointed toward the structure.  Three of the familiar
Duneriders
were doing something along the wall of the windowless structure that they believed held the Brryn.

Kytra had been dozing, something she needed to do more often now as the forces that held her weakened.  She sensed the halfmen outside.  They were planning on coming in and beginning the charging of the devices she had had them create.  The devices had worked so well at the library, she had decided to create more to eliminate the Guild and the Outpost.  She turned her attention toward Hyndl and Tryll, curious how much closer they were to becoming useful.  She knew she would be entirely free herself within the week, then she would act.

The three
Duneriders
walked purposefully and without haste toward the side of the structure which Rigo and his friends wanted to examine.  They paid no attention to the humans, and with a practiced positioning of their hands, they made a section of the wall turn cloudy.  Without a look back, the first stepped into the cloudy entrance, and disappeared inside.  The other two followed immediately afterward.

“How did they do that?” Kaler asked.  “I thought you said magic wasn’t working.”

“Theirs appears to be,” Rigo said.  “Come on, before it closes again.”

The four remaining members of the team stood and stepped away from the body of Ash’urn.  Rigo looked back at the still form still not really believing what had happened.  Once again one of his friends had paid the ultimate price following one of his schemes.  He’d thought he made some gains bringing Koess back, and now this.  This was the worst ever.  He’d gotten one of the most important people in his life killed.  Rigo vowed it wouldn’t happen again.  He didn’t know how, but he made a promise that he would get everyone else back intact.

“We’ll be back for him,” Rigo promised.  “There is no way we will leave him behind.”  He still couldn’t understand how someone so alive, so vibrant, could be so quickly reduced to a form so still.

They walked over to where the three
Duneriders
had disappeared inside.  The opening they had created was still cloudy, but the three figures could be seen moving away inside. 

“Do you think it is safe to follow through their opening?’ Nycoh asked.  “There appears to be some kind of residual barrier still in place.”

“I don’t see that we have much choice,” Daria said, pointing in the distance.  At least three dozen Baldari were hurrying their way.  The warriors carried swords and bows.  They were prepared for a combined assault.

Kaler hefted his sword, as Rigo stepped forward.  “I’ll go first.  If I get through, the rest of you need to follow.  Maybe they won’t come inside.  They appear to avoid this structure.”

So saying, he stepped into the opening before he could change his mind.  It had a thick resistance to his movement, but he was able to push though without incident.  A moment later he was inside.  The
Duneriders
had disappeared down a long hallway.

“Hurry,” Rigo said.  The Baldari were getting uncomfortably close outside.

Nycoh was the next through, followed by Daria and finally Kaler. 

“That was strange,” Kaler noted.  He turned and looked back at the approaching Baldari, but now that everyone was inside, the warriors appeared uncertain how to proceed.  They had stopped some fifty paces away and looked hesitant to approach any closer.  “It seems to have worked.  They aren’t coming closer or attempting to follow us inside.”

Daria looked back through the opening, seeing what Kaler had said.  The Baldari were stopped, looking uncertainly at the structure.  She could see part of Ash’urn’s body on the ground where they had left him.  Like Rigo, she was stunned at what had happened.  Ash’urn had seemed indestructible.  She could have accepted the death of any of them more readily than his.  Unfortunately, she had seen too much death to have any illusions that he was only gravely wounded.  She wouldn’t have left him had that been the case.

“This way,” said a tight lipped Nycoh. 

Daria could tell she was forcing herself to hold her emotions in check.

“The
Duneriders
went down this hallway.  I think we should see where they are going.”

They followed behind the three
Duneriders
. It was strange to see them here in an environment so much different than where they had encountered them in the past.  They also seemed somehow incomplete without a couple of Hoplani nearby. 

Daria and Kaler both had their bows ready.  Swords and knives might have seemed more appropriate, but they were concerned they might have to deal with the Brryn woman at a distance, and the bows were better suited to that.  The arrows were heavily inscribed with runes, but it was anyone’s guess if they would work against these people.

The hallways were made of some kind of metal.  Embedded into the metal were long streams of some kind of crystal which sparkled in the light that filled the passageway.  This was looking more and more like the kind of place that Mitty had described.  As they walked they passed a number of side passageways.  Each led into a large room with strange looking devices or a large number of closed drawers.  It would have been very interesting to have a look at what might be stored there, but their highest priority was to do something about the Brryn before she discovered their presence.  For all they knew, she was aware and planning a response even as they moved closer.

“This hallway is far too long,” Daria said.  “The inside of this structure is too big for the outside.”

Rigo had been having similar thoughts, although he wouldn’t have phrased it that way.  They had walked a considerable distance, and the end was still surprisingly far away.  They had easily walked around the perimeter when they were outside, but having walked for what was certainly a much greater distance they were less than two-thirds of the way down the long hallway.

As they walked, Rigo thought about what Ash’urn had said before he died.  The admonishment from the elder scholar stung more than a little.  Rigo couldn’t get the words out of his mind, and there was no way to answer them now that Ash’urn was gone.  “You’ve been idle, boy.”  It made him feel that he’d fallen short, that he’d disappointed his old friend.  It was as though he wasn’t doing his part.  The elder scholar had been right.  Magic had cost him.  It had been a turning point in his life, but he’d had to sacrifice for it.  He’d thought he’d done his part.  It was time for others to pick up the load.  He’d found a life, and had hoped to enjoy it fully.  Ash’urn had obviously seen matters differently.

“There,” Nycoh said interrupting his thoughts before he’d really had time to examine his feelings.  The three
Duneriders
turned into one of the side hallways. 

“Now we’ll at least see what they are after,” Kaler said.

By the time the four of them had made their way cautiously into the room, the three
Duneriders
were busy at work.  They were moving a series of large crystal containers into slots in the wall, and attaching some strange ropy vines to the top.  The vines pulsed with magical energy, and it took only moments to trace them back to a larger crystal device in the opposite end of the room.

“Great Risos!” Rigo exclaimed as he lowered his sword.  “Do you know what that is?”

Nycoh had seen the one Jeen had found under the seabed as often as Rigo.  She nodded her recognition.

“This one is clearly operational.”

The large device was aglow with colored bands of light as the various crystals pulsed with power and unknown purpose.  It was providing magical power to the devices the
Duneriders
were putting into place, but Nycoh and Rigo both suspected it was doing much more.  The Repository had been destroyed along with the pieces of the base before they had learned very much about it, but it had been obvious among its other functions it could augment a protective barrier and raise its strength to something far above what any wizard could create alone.

“I’ll bet it powers this entire structure,” Daria said.  She hadn’t been in any of the meetings, but her practical intuition made her see to the crux of the matter.  “If we could shut it down, I’ll bet it wouldn’t be appreciated by the Brryn.  It might take away some of their advantage.”

Nycoh studied the glowing apparition uncertainly.  It had a colored haze that surrounded it.  She had no idea if that was dangerous or not.

“We never learned enough about it,” she said.  “I have no idea how it can be turned off, and without magic I doubt we can do very much.  I’m certain that our swords would be useless against it.”

Rigo walked quietly across the room moving closer to the device.  One of the
Duneriders
looked up at him, but then turned away and went back to the task it had been assigned.  They had usually been that way.  Nycoh followed Rigo, moving closer to the object until they were within a pace of the cloudy glow that surrounded it.

“Ash’urn knew how to shut it down,” Rigo said softly.  “You are right that he never learned what it could do, but he discovered that much.  He knew it could be shutdown manually, and believed it could be controlled remotely as well.  At least some of the functions.”

“Unfortunately Ash’urn isn’t going to be able to help us,” Nycoh reminded Rigo.

“Actually, he is,” Rigo said.  “He said he gave me something.  I didn’t understand.  Now I think I do.  He passed his knowledge to me.  A lot of knowledge.  Do you have any idea what he knew and understood?  I know what he knew about the device.  I think we can turn it off.”

“How could he do that?” Nycoh asked.

“I’m not certain. It is similar to the way we pass inherent knowledge of magic, but is trickier and can only be done once.  The effort drained him, both mentally and physically.”

Nycoh looked at him doubtfully.  “He can’t have known much about this thing.  Are you certain it’s safe to try?”

“I think it’s got to be done or we won’t have a chance.  This thing is important to the Brryn.”

“What do we do?” Nycoh asked.

“You stay here just in case I’m wrong,” Rigo said, and then stepped forward into the hazy glow.  Ash’urn had somehow figured out how the device could be deactivated manually.  That was relatively straightforward.  Whoever had built it had believed it was well enough protected that an enemy wouldn’t be able to get close enough to need to worry they might perform the task.  Rigo suspected if it hadn’t been for the
Duneriders
, they would never have been able to get inside.  Luck, or something, had been on their side.

The glow provided more of the syrupy resistance much as the entryway had, but it didn’t restrict him or prevent him from approaching.  A couple of quick steps brought him alongside the device.  He searched for a particular symbol that he knew would position his hands.  Then laid both against the side and pressed against a pair of colored crystals.

Rigo felt as much as heard a faint click.  For a fraction of a second, nothing happened.  Then a burst of multicolored light flared out from the object, filling the room before dissipating.  Rigo felt a powerful chill through his body as the light passed through.  A quick look at Nycoh showed she had experienced something different.  Daria and Kaler waited expectantly.  They obviously had felt nothing.

“What was that?” Nycoh asked.

“I don’t know,” Rigo admitted.  “But I believe the device is shutting down.”  He pointed to the glow in the crystals which was far less intense and clearly fading.

Kytra felt the change immediately.  She realized the amplifier was disabled.  She was also aware she was not alone in the chamber.  They are here, she realized.  How could that be?  Somehow the rebel wizards had discovered she was in the southern mountains, managed to travel here unobserved past the thousands of Baldari who roamed the jungle.  Then they had seen through the illusion, and even entered the valley.  Remarkable!  Even more surprising, they had found their way into the protected chamber.  That had to be related to the halfmen.  They had either learned how to control them, or had somehow followed them.  Unfortunate.

As the power from the amplifier drained away, she felt her own strength slip.  The action taken by the wizards was something she would have loved to be able to do herself.  Had she been able to shut the cursed thing down a long time ago, she would have been free to escape the magic that had held her trapped.  Then she could have reset the device so it operated properly, not the way Nyk had obviously altered it.  Then she would have been able to pursue her goals.  Now, while the device was shutting down and had freed her from her prison, it had provided her with a serious dilemma.  While she was freed, and the others with her, she was weak.  Having been under the influence of the amplifier for aeons, her own magic was stunted.  She had been able to perform because the device boosted her ability.  Given a few weeks, a month perhaps, away from the device, she would regain her former ability.  But having just been released, she was surprisingly weak.

She probably could deal with a couple of the wizards, but she sensed that others were here as well.  They carried weapons.  Blades and arrows.  Those would be difficult in her weakened state.  The problem was even greater than that.  She couldn’t be certain that others weren’t coming.  With the device shutdown, the fields protecting the chamber would be falling away.  It would take some time, as there would be a residual hysterisis that would resist the decay.  More importantly, the illusion would be gone, and magic would no longer be cut off in the valley.  If there were more of the wizards nearby, they could start appearing at any moment.  She wasn’t in any shape to take them all on.  Soon, but not yet.

That meant she needed to get away from here until she was ready to deal with them.  Kytra pushed herself up and out of the cavity in which she had been kept alive, but also held captive, for so very long.  Fortunately the chamber kept her strong, and while she felt awkward on her legs, they were not atrophied or weak as one might expect after so long without use.  She lifted her long unused staff out of the special impression that had held it secure.  She welcomed the feel of the implement in her hand once again.  Somehow just holding it made her certain this would all work out.