The Baldari (Book 3) (59 page)

“You don’t know if what you would find would be as strong as what the Brryn are capable of,” Jeen said.  “From what you said, those trapped are from a time after the Brryn.”

“That is true,” Koess agreed.  “I have no idea whether we could acquire skills that would serve.  A couple of the oldest are from a time when the Brryn had only just ended the war.  They might have been Brryn.  It is a great risk, and perhaps foolish, but I had to make the possibility of returning known.”

“How would you even manage it?” Nycoh asked.  “How would you trigger a return to the Void where you were?  Would you return to the Great Chasm and hope another
Bypass
would return you?  The last time that happened, only you were transported.  It is also possible there is more than one such place.  Perhaps you would end up in a completely different existence.  One that is either of no use or impossible to escape from.”

“He wants to go back the same way we extracted him,” Rigo said.  “He wants to create a
Bypass
using the ancient rod from the Ruins so we can go back where he was before.”

Koess nodded.  “That was what I was thinking.  The rod made a
Bypass
into the region I was trapped.  Twice.  There is no reason to believe it can’t do it again.  If we could go in that way, and then escape when we are done, it might just work.”

“The risks are immense,” Daria said.  She had listened quietly, but now she felt she had to speak.  “You know far too little to make an informed judgement about your chances.  This would be a gamble, pure and simple.”

“Indeed,” agreed Rigo.  “A gamble that might be Mitty’s only chance.”

Nycoh looked at Jeen.  “Can you ask Queen Mos’pera what she thinks.  Maybe she has a vision that would help us decide.”

Rigo snorted.  He wasn’t sure any longer what he was willing to trust from any Seer.

Fen spoke quietly.  “Do you even have the rods that Koess wants to use?” he asked.  “I thought they were destroyed in the valley.”

“One of them survived,” Rigo said.  “I have it at the hideaway.  It is damaged.  Perhaps fatally so.  There has been no way to tell since we have only been able to activate it when we had two of the rods.  The intense magic passing between the two rods wore away some of the markings and cracked it.  It may not work at all any longer.  It may work, but not exactly as before.”

Jeen objected.  “Rigo, I don’t think this . . .”

Rigo stopped her protest with a glance.  “It would have to be either me or Nycoh.  I have the more reason to go.”  He looked sharply at Koess.  “You are certain you are willing to do this?  We may end up trapped back where you were forever.  The risk is great.  You would have to be far braver than I to take such a chance.”

“I have thought about it a great deal,” Koess said.  “I do not wish to go, but I think it is our only chance to stop the Brryn.  If we don’t find a way to fight them, we are all dead anyway.  If you will go, so will I.  Not happily, but I will go.”

“Some ways of dying are better than others,” Lyes muttered softly.

Rigo stepped out of the
Bypass
into the large room in the hideaway Daim had created so long ago.  He’d come alone this time.  Not even Daria and Kaler had followed him.  Since he was the only one able to make a
Bypass
into the room, he knew he wouldn’t be disturbed.  He wanted it that way.  He wanted to be alone with Mitty.  If he followed through with the plan to head into the Void he might never be back.  If that was the case Mitty was doomed as well.  He hated even considering that, but without some insight into the magic the Brryn wielded, it was obvious she wouldn’t be released.  If he didn’t return, it was doubtful the others would even be able to force their way into the hideaway.  The staff that had opened the door from the outside had long since been destroyed.  Neither he nor Daim had thought it important to make another.  Since the inside was shielded so the Brryn couldn’t locate Mitty, their most powerful magic might, he doubted it, but might, be able to rip through the outer walls if someone like Nycoh tried.  But it wouldn’t get through the shields to Mitty.  They had proven their magic wasn’t strong enough to overcome their own shields let alone the more resistant constructs the Brryn used.

Sadly, he looked at Mitty.  She remained frozen in that last movement towards flight.  As near as he could tell, she hadn’t moved even slightly since he’d first seen her trapped inside.  He wondered if she could sense him.  There was no way of telling.  He knew he’d been stupid.  He realized now what she had done was necessary.  Even Ash’urn had hinted at that before he died.  Rigo couldn’t imagine how much worse matters might be if the two Brryn they had killed had survived and joined forces with the three they currently were at war with.  More importantly, what had been in the chamber they had destroyed?  Rigo suspected their battle would have been even more impossible with the secrets the Brryn had placed in there.  Simply destroying the amplifier had taken power from them, although Rigo didn’t know just how much.

Both Mitty and Queen Mos’pera had said what they had done was the only path, and there was a chance of winning.  He didn’t see how, but the path Koess had offered might be the way.  Rigo was willing to risk it.  The admonishment from Ash’urn still bothered him, and he knew he hadn’t made proper use of the skills that the elder scholar had transferred to him.  He was supposedly the key.  Well, they would find out.  Perhaps he was making the wrong choice and would doom them all.  He wished he had a Seer’s insight, just this once.  He wouldn’t get to reverse his course if he chose wrongly.

Rigo spoke to Mitty for nearly half a glass.  He apologized and told her what he planned.  She probably didn’t hear a word, but he had time.  They wouldn’t be meeting at the cave until later this evening.  He might as well take what might be his last opportunity to tell her what he felt.  He wished for a response, the slightest indication she understood.  There was nothing.

Finally, he stood and with a final glance at her, walked to the back of the storage area where Daim had hidden his texts and extracted the remaining rod.  It was wrapped in its own shield, in addition to the dirty white cloth that hid it from view, although since they only had the one the shield probably wasn’t needed.  Ash’urn had sat next to one of them for months with only secondary effects.  Rigo wondered if this was the one Ash’urn had found, or the one that had been at the cave.  It might make a difference, but there was no way of knowing.  Another risk.  Another uncertainty. 

Slowly he unwrapped the cloth covering after removing the shield.  He thought he could sense the power in the rod, but that was probably his imagination fueled by what he had seen the rod do to the chamber.  It looked old and unimportant, hardly worthy of such concern.  The crack that he had noticed when he had recovered it in the valley seemed more ominous now.  Then he had simply noted the rod was damaged, whereas now he examined it with concern that it would function and survive the forces required to hold the
Bypass
into the Void and safely return Koess and himself when they were done.  Was he scared?  Risos knew he was.  Very much so.  He would be grateful for anyone who could suggest another path.  Unfortunately, he knew that wasn’t going to happen.  The meetings over the past few days had become increasingly desperate.  There wasn’t another way.

He re-wrapped the rod into the cloth without any great care.  It had survived thousands of years.  It would survive another day without such concerns.  He left the small hidden chamber open.  There was nothing else in there, and no one would be coming here anyway.  If the Brryn found the place, they would simply destroy it.  they wouldn’t even bother to check and see what treasures it might hold.

The others were already waiting when he arrived.  Koess looked appropriately nervous, and the others showed their uncertainty.  None knew what to say to him.  He didn’t know what he wanted to say to them either.

Jeen had gone to visit Queen Mos’pera.  Only she knew where the King and Queen were hiding at the moment. 

“She sees nothing,” Jeen reported.  “There are no visions to suggest whether this is a wise move or not.  Since the events at the valley, she has lost all grasp of the future.”

Rigo was glad.  He didn’t want to try and interpret any of the partial revelations of a seer just now.  He wouldn’t have known what to believe if Jeen had reported Mos’pera believed it was wise or not.  He accepted both Mos’pera and Mitty weren’t being manipulative, but he also knew they sometimes had to act in a way that didn’t serve his needs.

“Let’s see if this is even going to work,” Rigo said.  He placed the rod inside where they had put it the last time they had attempted opening the corrupted
Bypass
in search of Koess.  Then he stepped back.  Nycoh would make the attempt.  Like him, she could now perform multiple spells simultaneously, and creating and maintaining a
Bypass
wouldn’t limit her other abilities. 

The assembled group was surprisingly silent as Nycoh opened the
Bypass
.  She focused on a
Bypass
between here and the Orphanage just as they had in the past.  It probably didn’t matter, but that’s the way they had done it before, and they wished to change as little as possible.  Too much was already beyond their control.

Rigo let out a breath as the oddly colored arch appeared.  The cloudy opening they had seen before under the arch appeared as well.  Part of him had hoped that it wouldn’t work, but now there was no going back.

“Does it go to the same place?” Kaler asked.

“There’s only one way to know,” Nycoh said.  “Someone has to enter and find out.”

“How does it feel?” Rigo asked.  He was still concerned about the crack in the rod.

“It feels fragile,” Nycoh replied honestly.  “We may have to close it after you pass through, and reopen it at the agreed times.  That might put less stress on the rod.”

It also increased the risk of something going wrong. They might not be able to open it the next time, or it might open to a different location.  Rigo would have much preferred the
Bypass
remain in place until they came back, but it also wouldn’t do to have the rod fail. They didn’t know if it was needed only to open the
Bypass
, or to maintain the pathway.  He’d have to trust Nycoh’s sense and let her decide.

Waiting wasn’t going to make it any easier.  Rigo looked at Koess who looked a little pale.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

Koess didn’t test his voice.  Slowly he nodded.

“We’re coming along,” Daria said.

“Not this time,” Rigo said.  “Only the gifted can survive in the Void.  You would die as soon as you transitioned. Besides, Koess can attest, there is nothing to attack us there anyway.”

Rigo didn’t know if what he said was true or not, but this time he wasn’t going to allow his friends to risk themselves.  In his mind the chances were small they would return successful.  Looking at Koess, he thought the other was having similar thoughts.

Daria looked like she was about to argue, but Jeen silenced her with a stern look.  Rigo scanned the faces of those who meant so much to him.  He could tell they wished to say something, but were uncertain what.  He felt the same.  There was so much to say, and yet nothing at all.

Rigo reached out his hand and clasped Koess’s extended hand.  They had decided to make the transition in contact with one another, hoping that would ensure they ended up in the same place.  Too much was unknown about what they were doing.

“Let’s go,” Rigo said, his voice sounding a bit shaky.

Koess said nothing, but matched Rigo step for step.  A moment later they stepped into the cloudy region under the arch and disappeared.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Lyes said as he watched the two wizards disappear.

Rigo wasn’t at all prepared for the shock associated with the transition into the Void.  He had thought he was, because he had talked at length with Koess about his impressions of the place, but he was wrong.  He’d thought the light in the cave where they had started was dim.  That was outright bright compared to the light in the Void.  Part of him had expected clouds of mist, even though Koess had told him that wasn’t the case, but the view through the portal had suggested otherwise.  Also, he hadn’t expected it to be cold.  Koess had said there were no sensations of discomfort, but Rigo felt the cold seeping into his bones.  Cold, or something else?

He shuddered and tried to shake off the sensation.  The muted light made seeing difficult, and either the lack of light or some other phenomena associated with the Void had robbed everything of color.  Shades of gray were all that he could detect.  Many areas were completely black, making him wonder what was there.  Others were brighter, but none could be considered well lit. He wondered how Koess had stayed sane being in such a place for so long.

He looked around in an attempt to get his bearings, and to identify something that he could count on as a reference for when they came back seeking the portal to return home.  He knew it was right behind him, although when he turned and looked there was nothing there.  Well, that was true of portals even in the normal world.  He thought he could sense its presence, but there were so many odd sensations pressing in on him that he wasn’t sure.  He hoped Koess could.  He’d had no trouble finding it the last time when they had opened the way home for him.

There was nothing he could use.  In fact, what he saw made little sense.  Looking right and left he could sense the two tunnels running off in either direction.  In fact, any direction he looked he could see a tunnel.  Logically what he should be seeing given the number was a large open room.  But that wasn’t how it felt.  Looking right or left, there were a pair of tunnels heading off in each direction.  He could sense the stone off to his side.  Yet when he looked where the stone was, he saw instead an open tunnel.  The strange blurred, almost double image of everything didn’t help either.  At first Rigo had thought something had happened to his vision, but now had decided that was simply the way everything appeared.  Only Koess was a sharp single image.

“I don’t understand this,” Rigo said softly, hoping his voice worked.

Koess grimaced.  “It is a little disconcerting.  It makes it difficult to be certain where to go.”

Koess’s voice was faint as if coming from far away even though he stood beside Rigo.  In fact their hands were still linked, and Rigo broke the grip to see what would happen.  Happily, Koess remained right there.

“Is this the same place you were before?” Rigo asked, hoping for a positive response.

“I can’t tell yet,” Koess said.  “This portal was a considerable distance from where I spent most of my time.  I haven’t explored here very much.”

“How big is this place?” Rigo asked.

“It varies,” Koess replied.  “It changes.  Sometimes it felt a lot bigger than others.  Sometimes I found I could go places that normally weren’t there.”

“Which way do we have to go to locate these memories?”  Rigo was all for getting this done and returning home.

“Probably this way,” Koess said and started moving down one of the tunnels. 

Probably
?  Once again, Koess’s answer didn’t serve to instill confidence.  Rigo was also disturbed at how quickly Koess was fading away.  He hadn’t been moving fast, but he was almost out of view.  Rigo hurried after him.

They walked for a quarter glass, turning down one tunnel, and then switching for no apparent reason to another.  Rigo knew he had no hope of finding his way back without Koess.

“How do you find your way to the portal when it is time to leave?” Rigo asked.  “It all looks the same.”

“You’ll sense it,” Koess told him in that faraway voice.

Rigo tried, but he didn’t sense anything.  Did that mean the portal had been closed, or he lacked the ability that Koess took for granted?  Maybe Koess had developed the ability after spending years down here.  If so, Rigo hoped he hadn’t lost it.  They had days at best, not years.

“Which way is it now?” Rigo asked, hoping given a clue he might be able to pick out the portal’s presence.

Koess off-handedly pointed in a direction Rigo wouldn’t have guessed.  It seemed more ahead of them than behind.