The Baldari (Book 3) (67 page)

The next set of caves he destroyed blew up as satisfyingly as the first.  If he kept this up, the wizard with the
Greenfire
would have no place to hide.  He targeted the third set of caves and he fired just as the wizard hiding inside released one of the immensely powerful beams of
Greenfire
.  His magic and the attacking
Greenfire
met in the middle.  A wall that looked like a wall of ice a half pace thick but which was something else entirely formed between them as the two magical energies neutralized one another.  Even Hyndl had never seen anything like that before. 

He’d let his attention wander, and he realized that Rigo and the woman were hammering at him once again.  He’d swear that Rigo’s magic was gaining strength as the encounter stretched out.  It was supposed to weaken.  He released his own magic in response, and watched as his beam made a glancing strike on Rigo, not enough to disrupt his shield, and missed the woman entirely.  He couldn’t figure out how she managed to dodge his attacks.  It almost seemed as if she was able to divert his beam slightly.

They exchanged fire several more times, and Hyndl was able to destroy another cluster of caves, when something different started to happen.  In addition to the attacks he had been enduring, suddenly more than a dozen pinprick beams of
Greenfire
struck him from multiple locations.  None were very powerful, and he realized immediately they had to be simple wizards, or perhaps what Kytra called Casters, who had joined in the fight and were attacking him.  They probably could be swept aside easily, but there were so many of them and in different locations.  Already the two wizards he had been fighting began triggering multiple beams of their own, and Hyndl realized if he were to be hit by the powerful beam of
Greenfire
originating from the caves at the same time, he might not be able to withstand the combined assault.  He was pretty sure of it. 

Quickly he fired back at Rigo, hoping to divert him.  It worked, and he shot a beam to distract the woman wizard as well.  In the moment before they could reappear, or the wizard in the caves could join in, Hyndl activated a Transfer and fled the area.

Rigo watched to see where Hyndl would reappear. Several moments passed and nothing.  He looked over to Nycoh, who was alert as well.  After a few more moments, Rigo asked, “Do you think he ran?”

“I think so,” Nycoh replied.  Either that or he went for reinforcements.  It might be wise to get out of here before that can happen. 

“Go,” Rigo said, and shouted the same up to Jeen.  He walked a few steps toward the unexpected support they had received from the perimeter, when he saw Fen step out from behind a large boulder.  “Get out of here,” Rigo shouted, but grinned at the brave but foolhardy teenager.  Rigo didn’t know where Fen had found the group of Casters he’d brought, but their arrival had made the difference.

Seeing Fen wave his understanding, Rigo created a Transfer and disappeared.  When he stepped into the chamber in the Ruins, he wondered if Hyndl would return and chase down the Casters.  There would be many
Doorway
s to choose from, and he doubted Hyndl would bother.  He had to know they weren’t the ones he was after.

Well, they had done what Mos’pera had said was required.  Would it be enough?  Rigo could only hope so, but given the ferocity of the encounter, he wondered how they could hope to deal with Kytra and Hyndl at the same time.

“You were the one who was certain these wizards had learned our magic,” Kytra scolded as she checked the line of burned skin along Hyndl’s arm where the
Greenfire
had slipped through a tear in his shield.  He had come directly to her island when he fled the ambush and had not had time to see to healing the damage.  She would allow him to do so himself.  It was his bad decision that had led to his wound.  “How could you have taken such a risk?”

Hyndl cursed.  He was clearly pissed off by the encounter and that he had been effectively thwarted by the rebel wizards.

“Calm down,” Kytra soothed, taking a different approach.  “Look what we have learned. It might be a good thing this happened.”

Hyndl grimaced, then explained.  “He was alone.  It was the wizard named Rigo, and as we had heard, he has the characteristic look of a Brryn.  I thought he had panicked when he saw me and realized who I was.  He fled via a
Bypass
, the standard wizard means of getting around, and not by
Transfer
, although now I realize that was intentional.  He wanted me to come after him.  The
Bypass
he made was easily tracked, which I assumed he was aware of, but had no choice, and was hoping to escape in a crowd somewhere.  I didn’t expect him to be leading me into a trap.”

“He had no reason to suspect he would find you in that village?”

“None.  That is why I never considered a trap.  The wizards must have had some preplanned maneuver in place against such a possibility, as opposed to a specific action associated with his being in the village.  Somehow he was able to alert the others and they were there almost as fast as I was.”

“There are a number of crude means of doing so,” Kytra said.  “Nothing as flexible as our mental communication.”

“Which is now greatly limited in range since the bastards destroyed the amplifier,” Hyndl reminded her as he directed his healing magic against the burn.  “We should resurrect one of these crude means of warning one another for ourselves.  It would have altered the outcome today.  Perhaps it would have ended this whole problem.”

Kytra didn’t respond immediately to Hyndl’s suggestion.  She considered what they had learned.  Hyndl had been correct.  The rebel wizards, at least some of them anyway, had the Brryn heritage and had learned some of the Brryn magic. That was unfortunate.  It was so much easier when they were limited to primitive magic.  She and Hyndl would have to work out later how this had happened, but for now they needed to consider how to respond.  Finally she asked, “How many were involved in the attack?”

“I don’t know,” Hyndl replied.  “There were two who fought me directly.  They both were bastard Brryn. They had our hair, but were darker, more like the wizards.  They were the only two who I witnessed executing advanced magic.  Both carried staffs virtually identical to our own.  The others attacked from cover.  I couldn’t be certain if it was one or several.  Whoever it was demonstrated power with
Greenfire
superior to any I have seen.”

“That’s the more primitive magic,” Kytra observed.

“Maybe so, but it was intense enough that it was nearly as effective as the magic from the other two.”

“But only two who could wield our magic.  Is that correct?”

“That’s all who were involved.  I suspect that might be all they have.  If they had more, why wouldn’t they have been there as well.  Clearly their intent was to overpower me.  That would suggest they bring as many to the ambush as they could.  There were a number of wizards, including those very weak individuals who joined the fight late, but only two who demonstrated the Brryn skills.”

“They were enough to make you run,” Kytra pointed out.

“Because the combined effect was stronger than I was prepared for.”

“How powerful were the two who confronted you directly?”

Roughly as powerful as Tryll had been, although the one known as Rigo appeared to be gaining in strength as the battle progressed.  I cannot explain why I believe that, only that his attacks became more forceful.”

“So, if you are correct, we are the same in number, but we are superior in strength.  That suggests we still hold the advantage.”

“I could have emerged victor even against the three original attackers had it not been for the swarm of fledgling wizards who arrived at the end.  Another few minutes and I would have destroyed the hiding places available to the one attacking with
Greenfire
.  Then I would have had an easy shot at eliminating that one.  I doubt he had shields that would have stood up to my attack.”

“In the future we must ensure any encounters don’t allow them the luxury of such hiding.  If there are only two with advanced magic, and any others can’t protect themselves, the battle will be difficult for them to pursue.”

“If it had been both of us, it wouldn’t have lasted but a moment.”

“They must be aware of that as well,” Kytra said.  “If not before this incident, certainly afterwards.  That you were able to deal with all they could summon will make them cautious of any engagement where we both are present.”

“Based on the encounter today, they have to believe we are unable to summon one another for support,” Hyndl said.  “If we can change that, we might be able to lure them in and surprise them.”

“It will be easy to come up with a means of alerting one another.  I’m not so sure they will believe we remain restricted.  They could alert one another.  They won’t be quick to believe we can’t.  Nonetheless, we must put our full effort into locating and eliminating the rest of the rebels, these two in particular.  It will be impossible to establish firm control of the peasants if there are those roaming free who can contest us.  We will start with the village and specifically the establishment where you discovered the wizard Rigo.”

“It is likely they don’t know.”

“So much the worse for them.”

Kytra considered the situation.

“You should start staying here.  I suspect it is less comfortable than wherever you are staying at the moment, but it will provide us mutual support.  They can’t possibly know of this place.  The islands are far beyond any place they have explored.  Even if they somehow learn of it, we would know if they
Transfer
past the shields, and they will be surprised to learn their magic is blocked within this chamber.  Only I can access magic in here.  That will have to be changed so you can as well.”

“If they see us together, it will be more difficult to trap them,” Hyndl observed.

“True.  They will expect some degree of caution after the encounter from which you fled.  But if they observe one of us alone part of the time, they might become bold.”

“Do we plan to try and capture them, or simply kill them and be done with it?”

“I’d like to capture one of them, it doesn’t matter which.  Once we have a subject, we will be able to confirm if there are others, and maybe where they can be found.”

“Trapping them is not going to be easy,” Hyndl observed.  “They will be cautious now.  They know we know about them, and I can’t lead them without them wondering.”

“They have been searching for us for some time.  We will have to let them find you.”

“Maybe they should find you instead?” Hyndl suggested.

Kytra was about to object.  Then she thought about it.

“You don’t mean here.  I could have a place somewhere else, and they could find that.”  She considered the idea for a moment.  “That might be less likely to alert them.  They might consider it odd that they have a battle with you, and then suddenly locate your hideout after weeks of searching without success.”

“They will have to find you in a manner that doesn’t involve following you,” Hyndl pointed out.  “Once they know where you stay, they will believe they can establish a trap once again.  Then they will wait for you, or if they encounter you and you disappear, they will guess you have gone to ground and go to where they believe you have gone.  It will be a place where they don’t have cover, and we will both be waiting for them.”

“What about the white-haired woman we captured and they recovered?”

“We should have simply killed her,” Kytra acknowledged.  “I have sensed nothing of her since I wrapped her in the containment field.  They may have gotten her back, but I doubt they have found a way of freeing her.  I hope not.  She is the one link that could lead them here.”

“When can we make this happen?” Hyndl asked.  “Soon I hope.”

“They will be reluctant to take chances for a few days.  Anything too soon and they would be immediately suspicious.  That gives us some time to find where I have supposedly been hiding and set things up.”

“He was so powerful,” Jeen said, her face flushed.  She was as aware as the others that Hyndl had been making a move for her.  Another few minutes and she would have had nowhere to hide.  She had been on the verge of having to flee to prevent being exposed to the killing magic the Brryn controlled.  Jeen’s primitive shields wouldn’t have stood a chance against the magic. 

They were back in Nals. They had gone to an intermediate spot agreed upon, and then Rigo had brought everyone back by an untraceable
Transfer
.  He had wanted to chase down Fen, but the young Caster and those with him had taken off as well.  Hopefully all were safe.  It had been a bold move on their part, and as angry as Rigo was about the risks they had taken, he was not unaware they had made the difference.

“It was close,” Rigo admitted.  “Closer than I would have believed possible.  I thought the danger would have been if he were able to call for Kytra.  I wouldn’t have believed he could withstand the three of us at once.  We have a serious problem on our hands.”

Rigo and his fellow wizards had learned that much.  They now had a realization of the abilities of the two remaining Brryn, and they could be reasonably confident that Hyndl wasn’t able to call Kytra for assistance. Rigo was certain they had him worried for a bit.  If he had been able to, he would have sent for her.

“They might not have felt the need before,” Nycoh said.  “They didn’t know for sure of our existence.  Now they do.  They might decide after this that they need a means to contact one another.  I think it would be unwise to simply assume they can’t in the future.”

The encounter had indeed revealed a lot to the Brryn.  They now knew for certain who had killed Tryll.  They also now knew that each of the Brryn capable wizards were far weaker than themselves.  While they might not be entirely certain that there were only two with abilities with the advanced magic, they had to suspect as much.  It would have been likely for more to have been at the ambush if they existed. 

“I had hoped we could get him,” Jeen muttered disappointedly.

“That was never the intent,” Rigo reminded her. 

Like himself, in the middle of the encounter he had somewhat lost sight of what they were doing.  It had been a risk, and they couldn’t be certain what all the repercussions might be; to themselves and the populace of the kingdoms.  Queen Mos’pera had foretold the encounter between Rigo and Hyndl was necessary, and that it had to end as it did, if there were to be any hope of winning.  As it was, they had cheated.  After discussing what they had heard from the Queen, they decided she hadn’t indicated the encounter need be strictly the two men.  It might have to start that way, but they decided Rigo wouldn’t have to fight him alone.  It was wise they had acted as they had.  Rigo certainly would have lost had he been on his own. 

“I hope she was right then,” Jeen said.  She and those she had
Linked
with had been at the most risk in the encounter.  With no advanced shields for protection during the attack, they could easily have been victims.  Since they hadn’t been mentioned in Mos’pera’s foretelling, they had hoped they would be spared.  They had, but only because of Fen’s actions.

“They will hunt together,” Lyes predicted.  “Any chance we might have had of facing them singly is lost.  I cannot see how that has helped us.”

Lyes had been part of Jeen’s
Linked
team.  While the others had temporarily gone back into hiding, he had stayed to be with Nycoh and see what was decided.

“Perhaps not together,” Rigo agreed.  “Perhaps at the same time, but separated.”

“How would that be accomplished?” Nycoh asked.  “We are not strong enough to split our effort.”

“I don’t know,” Rigo admitted.  “At least not yet.  We will have to watch and see how they proceed.  Hopefully something will be revealed.”

“They are back together,” Suline said.  “Hyndl returned to the island almost the same time as you arrived back here.”

“Let’s see,” Rigo said.

Suline nodded and opened the
Ghost Doorway
into the underground part of Kytra’s complex.  They could see the two Brryn, but nothing was being said.

“I wish they would speak,” Jeen complained.  She had learned some of the Brryn language during the aborted
Linking
back in the valley.  Not enough to be fluent, but enough she might have picked out words and hints at what they were planning.

“They don’t need to,” Nycoh said.  She had the ability to pass mental thoughts and knew it was more efficient to communicate that way.  They would not be learning anything about the Brryn’s intentions by listening in.  Jeen would have to hope the actions taken by Kytra and Hyndl would reveal what they needed to know.

“I know it is a hardship,” Rigo told Suline, “but we need to have them watched anytime they are present.”

Suline nodded.  She had expected as much.

Two days later they had learned very little beyond the fact that Hyndl was now staying on the island with Kytra.  Wherever he had been in the past, they had apparently agreed it best to spend their down time in the security of her hideout.  They disappeared together during the day.  Thus far, Rigo and the others had no idea where.  They had not heard of them being sighted anywhere.  Rigo was certain they were searching for them, however.

On the third day, Hyndl and Kytra had left as usual and they were staring through Suline’s
Ghost Doorway
at the now quiet underground room on the faraway island, when Nycoh surprised everyone by suddenly saying, “I want to have a look around in there.”  She was pointing at the scene they had all been watching for the past glass.

“You must be kidding,” Lyes said hopefully, but he knew Nycoh well enough to know she was serious.

“It’s the only place we know of where the Brryn can be reliably found.  After weeks of searching, we have no real idea where they are hiding.  It could take months to finally get a location, only to have them discover what we have learned and move on leaving us worst off than we are now.  It’s impossible to plan anything under these conditions, meanwhile they are gradually finding and eliminating our colleagues.”

Nycoh looked at her friends.

“We need to take some kind of action.  Here they are confident and relaxed.  You can see it in their manner.  Kytra even sheds her shield when she enters the house under the protection of the facility barrier.  Maybe we can use that.”

“How?” Lyes asked coolly.  He didn’t like where Nycoh was going with this.  He had been there for the last encounter.

“I don’t know,” she admitted.  “That’s why we need to go there and have a look.”

“Surprise,” Suline said, remembering what Daria had done with Shym.  “If we could get to Kytra before she realizes the danger, it would make the chances of success far greater. That would leave just Hyndl”

“Who is normally shielded,” Rigo reminded them.  “Even inside, he remains protected.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen him when we couldn’t detect the fuzzy outline of his personal barrier.  Consider the consequences of an angry Hyndl.  What he could do, and how he could go to ground.  We don’t know where he was hiding before, and once he learns this place is compromised, he won’t be back.”

“Perhaps he drops his shield once he goes to bed,” Nycoh suggested.

They couldn’t watch what happened once the Brryn retired to the back rooms.  Tryll hadn’t been there during her visits, and thus the Reading hadn’t provided them with any memory that allowed a
Doorway
to be made into that section of the house.  Suline had tried to reposition the
Ghost Doorway
manually to that area, but had encountered some kind of resistance that prevented her from doing so.

“If we go there, we can learn a lot more about the place,” she continued.  “Maybe we can find a place to hide, or learn what exactly is in the back rooms.  Once we’ve visited, we could then make a
Doorway
to monitor what happens in there.  What if Hyndl releases his shields and goes to sleep.  We might be able to bring them down while they are unaware.  It would end this simply.  We need intelligence.  Go get Daria.  Ask her.  She’d tell you the same thing, you know it.”

“They aren’t there to detect your arrival if you
Transfer
in,” Jeen agreed softly.

“No!  Not that way,” Rigo said emphatically.  “We can’t be sure they haven’t some means of detecting remotely if a
Transfer
takes place.  If we decide to do this, we need to go via the
Ghost Doorway
.  At least there we know they cannot sense the breach.  We have monitored them in the room multiple times.  Besides, Suline can keep a close watch and extract us instantly if needed.”

“It sounds like you are agreeing with this,” Lyes said unhappily.

“Nycoh might be right.  This might be our best opportunity.  We risk disclosing our knowledge of the place, but what are we learning.  Since they don’t communicate in a manner we can track, we have really learned very little in the past few days.  I am beginning to believe we won’t learn very much no matter how long we watch remotely.”

“When would you propose to do this?’ Jeen asked.

“How about right now?” Nycoh asked.

Rigo and Nycoh would be the only ones going.  The
Ghost Doorway
would be their primary plan of escape, but if the need arose they each could make a
Transfer
and get away.  While the
Transfer
would allow them to carry away others, the need to include additional people in the
Transfer
would require a small delay, how much depending on where they were with respect to the person triggering the departure.  That could be enough to be a problem.  Also, they could create shields to protect themselves.  The shields of the rest would be useless against a Brryn attack.

After agreeing on what would trigger a recall, Nycoh signaled Suline, who replaced the viewing portal with one Rigo and Nycoh could step through.  Moments later they emerged into the underground room they had spent so many hours monitoring.  When they stepped into the
Doorway
, their primary thought had been whether the Brryn would somehow detect their presence and show up within moments of their arrival.  Their physical presence could conceivably trigger some kind of alarm to Kytra.  As they stepped through, however, they realized they had a different problem

“It’s like the Ruins,” Rigo said softly, but loud enough that Suline and those watching from their hideout in Nals could hear.  “Our magic is completely blocked.  If we needed to
Transfer
out of here, we’d be trapped.”  Once again they were thankful for the unique capability of the
Ghost Doorway
.  They could escape via the portal it provided without requiring access to their magic.

“I’ll bet it isn’t blocked for them,” Nycoh said.  “Remember that Hyndl had his shield in place.  That suggests he has access to magic.”  She had felt the loss of her personal barrier as they had stepped into the room.

“Obviously, we can’t hope to use magic for an attack here,” Rigo said.

“See, we’ve already learned something we didn’t expect.  I’ll wager any place we find them, it will be like this.”

“Tryll’s wasn’t,” Rigo reminded her.

“She didn’t see the need.  They didn’t suspect what we could do then.  I’ll bet it takes some effort to make it like this.”

When the Brryn didn’t suddenly appear to confront them, Rigo and Nycoh began to look around. Being here confirmed what they had seen through the
Ghost Doorway
.  The place represented basic quarters, nothing fancy.  Kytra hadn’t had time to return it to what it must have been at one time.  When they headed toward the back rooms, they found another surprise.

“We can’t get in the back,” Rigo said.  “Suline hasn’t been able to move the viewing
Doorway
back there because there is a secondary barrier in place.  It’s dark enough we can’t see through.”

Rigo wondered if he had a wizard’s light if he could have illuminated the area enough to see what lay behind the shield.

“This is something new,” Nycoh said.  “We’ve watched them walk back here as though nothing prevents their passage.  These shields are tuned to them and they can simply pass.  They don’t have to
Transfer
through them.”

A short time later they admitted there was nothing more to see.  They knew what was outside having monitored that area extensively already, and they couldn’t get into the area they wanted to investigate.  Reluctantly they returned to Nals where the others waited.

“I still think we need a plan that gets them both at the same time,” Rigo said.

It was later the same day, and they had brought Daria and Kaler to Nals to discuss the situation and brainstorm for ideas.  As the others expected, Daria was in favor of a crossbow bolt through the
Ghost Doorway
to eliminate Kytra.  Nycoh argued that the Brryn were more alert than Shym had been, and might be able to react quickly enough to shield herself.  Daria reminded her that Suline could position the exit of the
Ghost Doorway
a hand’s width away.  The arrow would be in her as soon as it arrived on the far side of the interface.