The Baldari (Book 3) (57 page)

Almost a full glass later he arrived at the country estate where the former Queen now lived.  To his immense relief, nothing looked out of place.  The structure looked as it had the last time he had visited.  The lawns were green, and a pair of horses wandered lazily around the corral.  There had been no attack here.  Expectantly, wondering how Mitty would react to his presence, he walked up and knocked on the door.  A servant he recognized from his last visit answered, and clearly recognized him as well.

“Master wizard,” the servant said.  “Were you expected?”

“No,” Rigo admitted.  “There has been an attack, and I have come to check on Mitty.”

“An attack?” the servant asked, concern evident on his face.  He peered out behind Rigo just to verify there was no immediate danger. Then he looked back at Rigo and said, “Miss Mitty isn’t here.”

Rigo felt a sudden emptiness in the pit of his stomach.

“She’s not here?” he asked dumbly.  “Where would she have gone?”

“She and Master Fen went off for some reason.  They do that often, although they are most usually returned by this time.”

Now more than a little concerned, the relief at seeing the mansion intact was completely washed away.  “Is Rosul here?” he asked.

“Of course,” the servant replied.  “Please come in.  I will fetch her for you.”

Rigo paced worriedly until Rosul appeared behind the returning servant.

“Rigo,” she said delightedly.  “It’s been a while.  I hadn’t expected to see you, given the, er, uncomfortable situation between yourself and Mitty.”

It seemed everyone knew about the rift between them.  The former Queen couldn’t help staring at his hair as she waited for him to continue.  Obviously she had been told about the transformation.

“Do you know where they went or when they will be back?” Rigo asked.  “There has been a series of attacks, both in Sedfair and the Three Kingdoms.  I’m sad to report the new government facility has been totally destroyed, and Queen Jusay appears to have perished with it.  The Outpost and the Guild have been lost as well.”

The shock at his news showed on Rosul’s face.  “Do you think Mitty might be at risk?” she asked.

“The Brryn have reason to hate her,” Rigo said.  “I doubt they know where she is, but I want to be certain she is protected.  When will they be back?”

“I don’t know,” Rosul admitted hesitantly.  “They go different places each time, and their return varies by as much as a couple of glass, although now that you bring the matter up, this is later than I can ever recall.”

That didn’t help Rigo’s state of mind.  “They didn’t say anything to anyone?” he asked hopefully.

Rosul shook her head.  “It’s something they intentionally keep secret.  It was considered safer that way.”

Rigo evaluated with hindsight the advantage of having at least one person aware of where they might be.  At Rosul’s insistence, he let himself be led inside, where they would wait for her together.  Three glass later, they had not returned.

“I have to go now,” Rigo said unhappily.  “Who knows the state of the kingdom’s at the moment.  There is no one who can help me here, and I have no clues to begin a search.  I’m not even very familiar with the area.  When,” he wouldn’t use the word if, “Fen and Mitty return, tell Fen to come to the Orphanage to find me.  Immediately!  He will know where that is.”

Rosul offered him a place to stay, but Rigo needed to learn what was happening, and to make sure his other friends were safe.  He had no idea where Jeen and the royal family had gone, nor did he know where Lyes and Nycoh might be.  He would need to report to the island in a couple of glass, but he would have a little time to check on Daria and Kaler.  He also suspected he might need their help again, although what they could do against this enemy was difficult to imagine.  He opened the
Bypass
, the knot of fear in his gut growing larger with each passing minute.  He was certain that something had happened, and it was his fault that Mitty hadn’t been by his side where he could protect her.  He exited the last of
Bypass
portals required to cross the Ruins in the familiar surroundings of the Orphanage.  It was apparent that his friends knew of the attacks.  Two other wizards were inside speaking with them.

“Mitty is missing,” an anguished Rigo informed the others when he showed up late to the meeting the following morning.  He had brought Kaler and Daria, who insisted on being part of any action, despite his misgivings about their abilities to protect themselves against the Brryn.  This morning the gathering was being held in an old monastery in southern Lopal.  They didn’t want to establish any patterns in where they met in case something went wrong.  He had made another trip to visit Rosul before coming to the gathering, even though he knew it would be fruitless.  She had promised to send Fen if he showed, and when Rigo arrived, she had not seen either of them. 

“I think we have lost Daim as well,” Nycoh said.  “He hasn’t been seen by anyone I’ve spoken with since we fled the Outpost yesterday, and he is normally the first to meetings.”  Daim would have known about the location of the meeting in the monastery.  From this point onward they would select the next location at the conclusion of the meetings, so anyone missing would not know where future gatherings would be.  They had the ability for an emergency contact via the bracelets, but that was to be used only as a last resort, and the group would converge on the location of the triggering signal.

Rigo explained what he had discovered when he went to visit Rosul after the attack on the Outpost, and the fact that Mitty and Fen hadn’t been seen since late morning the previous day.  The others were eager to help, but they had no place to start.  Given the situation, she could be anywhere, and an active search was likely to bring the Brryn down upon them.  They needed some kind of information if a search were to be initiated.

“The mountains along the northern coast of Sedfair,” Rigo said.  “I know there are a lot of them, but supposedly Mitty liked to use them for her viewing, figuring they were deserted and far from any villages.  She felt if they were caught, there would be no villagers to suffer the consequences.”

“We can start a search,” Nycoh said, “but it is still going to take a long time.  The mountains extend along the entirety of the northern border are wild and unexplored.  It could take many days to carefully search them.  I’m certain Mitty would have tried to hide as well as possible while she was performing a viewing.”

Rigo knew he couldn’t ask for more.  It would be risky and unlikely to produce results, but he couldn’t sit around and wait any longer.  Eager to get the meeting out of the way, he told them what he had observed when the Brryn showed up to attack their former base.  He explained how his shield worked to hide his presence from the Brryn, which was useful for them to know, and how he had detected a significant number of portals being made as the Brryn arrived, and one near the end of their attack.

“That must have been Daim,” Nycoh said.  “There was hardly anyone in the place when Lyes and I checked.  I’ll bet Daim was trying to confuse any search of the escape portals by making a number of meaningless ones that went unused.”  She looked at Rigo.  “You took considerable risk to remain and watch.”

“I needed to see for myself how powerful they were.  Lyes is correct.  We are simply no match for them.  If it was Daim who tried to flee near the end of the destruction of the Outpost, they most likely caught up with him,” Rigo said.  “Hyndl looked mighty pleased when he returned from tracing that final portal.”

“Then they must have killed him rather than trying to capture him,” Lyes said.  “Otherwise we would have had visitors.”  The others were silent, knowing this was the most probable explanation of his absence.  If it were true, he had left them for the second, and last time. 

Jeen hesitated, then brought the conversation back to assessing their situation.  “The Brryn made a complete sweep yesterday,” she said.  “The castles in both Sulen and Pagner were completely destroyed.  Fortunately, King Rhory and Queen Mos’pera had heeded our warning, and they had evacuated everyone.  Loss of life was minimal.  The stories claim otherwise in Pagner.  The claim is that most of the government was present when the attack came.  It might be a story released to misdirect our enemies, but I have no way of checking.”

“What about Lopal?” Nycoh asked.

“The Lamane and his entire village were wiped out,” Jeen said.  “Stubborn as usual, the Lamane insisted on standing up to any aggressors.  His actions only served to demonstrate how helpless we all are against these Brryn.”

“Sedfair, Lopal, maybe Kellmore,” Kaler said softly.  “The only royalty that has survived are from Branid, and they will have to remain in hiding.  If the Brryn learn of their escape, they will be hunted just as you are.”

“Do you have any idea how many gifted managed to escape?” Daria asked.

“It is impossible to know,” Nycoh said.  “Many have gone into hiding and have told no one where they are.  Others are grouped, but we know that at least a couple of the groups have been found and nearly everyone killed.  We don’t understand how the Brryn are able to locate them.”

“We can sense gifted,” Rigo pointed out.  “I suspect the Brryn are even more adept at doing so.  They also track our portals.  They might be able to sense the use of other magic.  We have to assume as much, and take appropriate cautions.  Casters have an advantage.  They are not gifted in the usual way, and hence cannot be sensed.  If they refrain from using their magic, they should be nearly impossible to distinguish from the rest of the population.  The rest of us will need to use our shields to block ourselves.”

Jeen nodded her agreement.  “I have searched my memories, those extracted from the Brryn I
Linked
with.  They can sense gifted, and they can sense the use of magic, especially the powerful draws associated with combat.  Masked
Bypass
are not blocked for them, although they have to be relatively near to one of the endpoints, and the trace fades quite fast.  A quarter of a glass and they will be unable to follow a masked
Bypass
.”

“Where do we go from here?” Lyes asked. 

“It looks pretty bad,” Rigo said.  “We have lost many key people, and all of the resources we hoped might yield answers.  The Repository is gone, our strongholds, most of our libraries.”

“The dig in Roin as well,” Jeen added.

“They attacked that as well?” Nycoh asked.

Jeen nodded.  “The Kytra woman appeared and demolished everything.  I only know because one of the people had gone into town and was spared.  He said she appeared truly angry by our presence there.”

“I assume conventional weapons are of little use,” Lyes asked.

“The royal guard in Kellmore was all but wiped out,” Kaler said.  “There is little hope to be found there, even with the special arrows with the Caster’s markings.”

“We don’t appear to have many options,” Jeen said.  “What do we do?”

“We have little choice but to stay hidden for now,” Nycoh suggested.  “We need to see what they do, how they hunt for us, and try and find a weakness.  Perhaps we can find where they hide. They can’t maintain their shields all the time.  If we know where they go, we might find an opportunity.”

“What about those islands,” Rigo asked.  “Have you been able to create a
Bypass
there?”

“I was,” Jeen said.  “You would be surprised how many islands are out there.  I took Suline with me, and she thinks she can assemble a team and jump from island to island as she searches.  Her
Ghost Doorways
have always been undetectable to all of us, wizards and Casters alike.  Hopefully the Brryn will be similarly limited and she can move undetected.  I was afraid to attempt much out of fear they would sense my presence and know we had located them.”

“Make sure her team is made of Casters,” Rigo suggested.  “They would be less likely to be detected.  If we can find where they hide, we will have a much better chance of responding.”

“Even if we find them, so what?” Lyes said.  “They appear to be indestructible.”

“Everyone has a weakness,” Daria said with certainty.  “We will find theirs.”

“I will tell Suline what we have decided and have her start her searches,” Jeen said.  “I didn’t want to take any action without discussing it.”

“Warn all you come in contact with to stay hidden and block themselves with shields,” Nycoh said.  “Minimize the use of portals.  I know it will be difficult, but each use is a danger.  Unfortunately, some of us have little choice and will have to risk exposure.”

Rigo suddenly became aware of the special trigger bracelet he had left with Kaler’s brother Nyll back at the Orphanage.  It was to be activated if Fen were to show up.  Of course it was possible that something else had happened, but since Kaler and Daria were not gifted, the orphanage was an unlikely target for the Brryn.

“Nyll is signaling,” Rigo said.  “Maybe Fen has finally made an appearance.”

“We should all go,” Jeen said.

“It probably isn’t wise for us to go into an uncertain location all at once,” Daria said.  “Just in case it’s a trap.”

“I’ll go first,” Rigo said.  “The rest of you hold off until I’ve had a chance to check this out.  Make your portal so it exits on the far hill.  Then you can quickly flee if necessary.”

Rigo stood and made the
Bypass
.  Kaler and Daria stood as well.  They were going with Rigo, and had already drawn their weapons.  Hoping that it was Fen, Rigo stepped through the portal, his shields in place, although weakened as he extended them to cover Kaler and Daria as well.

The three friends stepped out of the portal into the courtyard of the Orphanage, ready for the worst.  A quick glance showed the only people around were Nyll and as Rigo had hoped, the missing Fen.  Fen looked dirty and tired.  Rigo felt himself tense as he realized his fears had been well placed and that something had happened to Fen and Mitty.  Fen’s first words confirmed Rigo’s fears.

“Rigo, I’m sorry,” Fen blurted out.  He was almost in tears.  “She surprised us.  She did something to Mitty.”

“Is Mitty alive?” Rigo asked, desperate to know that she was okay.

“I don’t know,” Fen said.  “I think so, but I can’t tell.”

That wasn’t an answer that Rigo expected.  “Explain,” he said.

“Mitty had just finished her attempt at locating the woman.  Kytra she called her.  Then suddenly, the woman was there.  I don’t know how she found us.  Kendall, one of the Guild’s strongest mages tried to attack her, but the Brryn woman simply smiled and did something that made Kendall scream and then vanish in a bright flash.  It was like Kendall had no power, no ability to resist at all.”

Fen hung his head.  “I panicked, Rigo. I ran.  I knew there was nothing I could do.  I’d like to say I thought if I hid maybe I could follow and see where they took Mitty, but the truth is I knew I was next and there was nothing I could do to stop it.  My ability is nowhere near as strong as Kendall’s, and I’d seen what happened to her.”

Rigo wanted to be mad.  Fen had run and left Mitty unprotected, but he realized Fen was right.  He would have simply been killed, and Rigo wouldn’t have known anything about what happened.  Besides, Rigo realized, Mitty had been alone because of him.  He should have been there with her.

“She let you go?” he asked.  “What about Mitty?”

“I made a
Doorway
and fled.  I thought about coming to find you, but I didn’t know where to start looking.  Since the Brryn escaped, people have been going into hiding and no one spends time where they normally do.  I also didn’t want to lead Kytra to anyone.  I tried to hide to be sure I wasn’t being followed, but after a while, I knew I had to go back.  I had to see what had happened to Mitty after I left.  I was afraid what I would find, but Mitty was still there.  Except she’s in some kind of magical cylinder.”

“A what?” Rigo asked.

“It’s like she is frozen inside a large clear cylinder.  I couldn’t reach to touch her.  The outside felt like glass, except I could sense the magic.  I can’t tell if she is alive or not, and nothing I tried was able to overcome the spell that holds her.”

“Take me there,” Rigo commanded.

“I think it’s a trap,” Fen said.  “I think that’s really why Kytra let me go.  I’m supposed to bring you there.  That’s what she wants.  She knows that you were one of those who destroyed her chamber, and she wants to find you.”

“She’s going to get her wish,” Rigo said.  “Show me where Mitty is.”

The others had arrived while Rigo and Fen were speaking.  They had overheard Fen’s claim that Kytra may have set a trap for him.

“Rigo you can’t go there,” Nycoh said.  “Fen is right.  It has to be a trap.”

“I can’t leave Mitty.  I need to know that she is alive.  If she is, whatever was done might be killing her.  We can’t know how long she can survive in that thing Kytra placed around her.”

“You can’t help her if you are dead,” Jeen said.  “Kytra would either have killed her outright, or she has done something that can be expected to keep Mitty alive for some time.  Kytra can’t know how long it will take Fen to locate you so you can come and check.”

“Fen, when did this happen?” Nycoh asked. 

Fen hung his head.  “Yesterday,” he said.  “When I went back and tried to get her out, there was a magical backlash.  I was knocked unconscious.  I didn’t wake up until this morning.  I went back to the mansion to tell Rosul, and she told me I needed to come here immediately.”