Wizard's Blood [Part Two] (66 page)

Knowing this wasn’t going to end well, but knowing also that she was doomed if captured, she turned and ran to the north. She’d have to hope the girl knew what she was doing in sending her this way. The wizard shouted something, but she had enough of a lead that his words were lost behind her. She continued to run, only looking back briefly at one point to see that two more men dressed in wizard’s garb had joined the chase.

The small bag of fruit made her running awkward, and reluctantly she threw it aside. Then she ran for all she was worth, realizing she was out of shape from months of being in the cell. She’d done what exercises she could, but there had been little to tax her breathing and stamina, and she felt the lack now. Already she was getting winded, and a quick glance told her they were gaining on her.

She broke free of the village, and now ran along the river. Ahead was a cluster of tall trees, and she thought she could see the outline of the structure she’d been told to seek partially revealed between the branches. She sent a mental image to Tishe that she was almost there, and tried to convey a sense of being chased. She was uncertain how successful she’d been.

Finally she rounded the outer perimeter of trees and came to an abrupt stop in front of the old stone structure. No one was here. There was also nowhere to go. She was breathing hard and knew she couldn’t run much farther. It looked like this was where she’d make her stand. She turned to face the three wizards who slowed suddenly when they realized their quarry was simply standing and waiting.

As strong as she was, three against one weren’t good odds. The wizards were close enough, and she sensed they were strong in the power which only made matters worse. There was no point in waiting to talk, so she blasted the one who’d initially called out to her with her strongest
energy-be
am, fully expecting to be hit in return by the other two before she could respond.

Suddenly a series of rapid shots rang out behind her and she could see the two wizards taking hits. Both slowly collapsed to the ground, their chests red with blood. Unbelieving, Shyar looked around to see a young girl standing on the structure platform with a couple of Cobalo military men. Both held rifles, but one was lowering the one he’d just fired. It was clear from the way the men stood that he’d been the only one who’d fired. Whatever the rifle was, it had the ability to fire far more rapidly than anything she’d seen. She owed this man her life.

Tishe was waving for her to hurry, and Shyar stumbled toward the girl, taking her hand when she got close enough.

“
How?” Shyar tried to ask, but Tishe shook her head and pulled Shyar with her. While the two men watched their backs, the two women stepped into the structure opening and moments later Shyar stepped out into a room in Cobalo that she recognized.

Once Jolan and Asari had realized where they were, it hadn’t taken long for them to make their way through the rubble of the old city to the portal that waited adjacent to the Nexus entrance. Jolan activated the portal, and then, cautiously they made their way through, appearing in the portal room where Morin waited. They were greeted by the guard with his Mini-14 aimed and ready until they were recognized. One look told Morin that something had gone wrong.

“
Lads?” he asked. “What happened? How come you’re returning here and from Tilano instead of Ale’ald?”

“
Disaster,” Jolan told him. Promising to explain later, Jolan told him to shut down the portals, stay ready for trouble, and he’d learn after they came back from seeing Chancellor Vaen.

It hadn’t taken Vaen more than a second to know the rescue had failed. “How bad is it?” she asked.

Jolan shook his head and handed her the blackened remains of the top of his staff, the only piece that hadn’t crumbled completely to dust. Her eyes widened when she took it. “Your staff?”

“
What’s left of it,” Jolan said glumly.

“
What about Shyar?”

“
We never saw her. We ran into Cheurt on the way to the castle. That’s where Luzoke and the others were killed.”

Vaen sat down heavily. “You’d better tell me from the beginning.”

Jolan walked through events carefully, starting with his discovery of the missing amplifier, and then Ronoron’s failure to appear for the planning meeting. He finished with the description of the battle in which the spy-mages and Luzoke were killed, and how the staff had somehow transported them to Tilano.

“
You’re sure that Ronoron took the amulet?”

“
We never saw him with it, but I can’t see any other explanation. Whatever the specifics, Cheurt now holds the power amplifier, and he is strong beyond belief.”

“
Can we mount a counterattack? Is there any chance of still getting Shyar back?”

Jolan’s heart surged at her name, but he doubted there would be any way to make it happen. “We need to find Tishe. Maybe she can find out Shyar’s status. Until we know something, we are likely to simply be sending more men to their death.”

Vaen sent her assistant to find Tishe, and asked Jolan to describe what he’d observed in careful detail during the battle with Cheurt.

“
You didn’t mention the staff he held before,” she scolded. “Describe it.”

Jolan tried to visualize when he’d seen during the fighting, and while doing so he told Vaen what he’d seen.

“
Dragons!” she exclaimed. “It sounds like he has found
Farsight
.”

“
Farsight
?” Jolan asked.

“
One of the handful of special staffs. Like yours did, it significantly raises a mage’s abilities. In addition,
Farsight
gives one the ability to see where someone the owner is interested in is currently located. A vision of his current surroundings is shown with the person’s actions at the time. It supposedly can only be used once a day, and the visions are limited to less than a minute, but it is a powerful advantage.”

“
You mean he could spy on me any time he wants?”

“
He has to have something from you to make it work. A lock of hair or a bag of fingernails was said to be common. A lopped off finger would work also.”

“
You seem to know a lot about this staff.”

“
I knew the holder of
Farsight
more than sixty years ago. He disappeared, and we presumed the staff lost. I would like to know how it came into Cheurt’s hands. He wasn’t even born when the staff went missing.”

“
You’re sure it’s the same staff?”

“
I think so. The blue jewel is very unusual, and the rest of the description fits. Cheurt wouldn’t be carrying just anything with him.”

“
Is that how he was able to create the magic that killed Luzoke?”

“
No,” Vaen said slowly. “He has at least one ring. In this case, he must have one with a green stone. I saw what you just described once before, over three hundred years ago. The person who killed in such a manner wore one of the rings with such a stone. I saw one more of the green rings years later, but the wearer said he knew nothing about such an ability. He was passing through where I was at the time, and I never saw him again. I had almost forgotten about it.”

“
So Cheurt has a staff, a ring, and now the amplifier, in addition to being one of the most powerful wizards alive. It is not a good combination.”

“
How dangerous is the amplifier in his hands?” Vaen asked.

“
I wish I knew. The brief testing I did with it showed it reacted differently with each person. That’s why Ronoron was so eager to put his hands on it. It effectively raised him from a level three to a level seven. It was more typical to get a boost of a level or at most two.”

“
So Cheurt could expect to gain at least a level, and maybe more?”

“
I expect so. He certainly seemed invincible, but it would be hard to say how much was due to his other magical implements.”

“
Is there anything we can do about the amplifier?”

“
Wait,” Jolan said.

Vaen looked at him in confusion.

“
The amplifier relies on a small power source inside. The power source is always active, and I know the current draw. The battery is good for a couple more months, then it will fail. Once it fails, the device won’t work at all. He can’t get a replacement here on Gaea, so that should be the end of its usefulness to him.”

“
How much damage can he do in the meantime?”

“
That’s certainly the question.”

“
He’s immune to bullets,” Asari said suddenly.

“
What?” Vaen asked. “That would have been the only thing we know that could limit him.”

“
I shot him twice during the battle. He wasn’t even fazed by my attempt.”

“
He’s right,” Jolan said. “I saw him shoot. In fact, the lighting was right so I could actually see the bullets in flight. It’s something I saw a few times before when the sun was behind me and low on the horizon. They were right on target, and I’m certain they passed through his shields.”

“
However are we going to stop him?”

“
I haven’t had time to think it through, but I don’t think it’s as bad as we think. I am guessing that Cheurt got a special Kevlar vest on Earth at some point when he learned that we were using coppered bullets for many attacks. It isn’t perfect, but would give him protection against the normally targeted shots.” Seeing their confusion, Jolan explained. “It’s a special material, that has the ability to stop most pistol bullets, and offers a little protection against rifle bullets, especially those in the black powder arms we make. I doubt it would help against one of our sniper rifles. What it means is, we might have to aim for his head if we get another chance, unless we have a rifle or something powerful enough to penetrate his vest.”

“
This truly has turned out to be an unfortunate development.”

“
It’s my fault,” Jolan said. “I should have been more careful.”

“
It’s Ronoron’s fault,” Vaen said. “That stupid fool has put everything at risk.”

“
We haven’t talked about the worst of this,” Jolan said. “How much did Cheurt learn from Ronoron? He has been part of a great many of our secrets. If Cheurt has been able to learn what Ronoron knew, then we have a number of serious problems. Just knowing about the portals is going to change how we operate from this point on. If he knows how to use them, we have a whole different problem.”

“
You talk as though Ronoron is dead. Do we know that for certain? Cheurt might be probing him even now.”

“
He’s quite dead,” Shyar said as she stepped suddenly into the conference room, Tishe following right behind her. “I killed him while Cheurt was trying to strip his mind. He had no chance of living, and I wanted to prevent Cheurt from getting anymore than he had. I don’t know if I was fast enough or what he might have learned before I could act.”

A stunned silence greeted her words. Jolan was shocked to silence, then his eyes watered as he jumped to his feet and rushed over to embrace her. She held him strongly in return, and it was several minutes before the two separated, and looked meaningfully at each other.

“
How?” he croaked, unable to speak normally.

“
Tishe,” Shyar said. “She led me to one of your portals and came and got me. Just in time I might add. You have come up with some interesting discoveries while I have been gone. No wonder Cheurt is at such a loss to deal with you.”

When people started to get over their shock, Vaen asked. “Do you have any sense of what Cheurt might have learned from Ronoron?”

“
He’d just started his probe when I killed Ronoron. He couldn’t have had time to learn much, but I have no idea what areas he might have been probing. I had no time to see from his actions or words what might have come from the probe. He was still somewhat stunned when I fled.”

For the first time Shyar looked directly at the woman sitting in the Chancellor’s seat, and her eye’s widened in shock. “Chancellor?”

Looking a healthy thirty-five, Chancellor Vaen smiled back at her, knowing what she was seeing.

“
They tried to kill me at the same time they captured you. Whatever they infected me with activated something in my system. When everything settled down, I had reverted to this. Not bad for being almost four hundred years old, is it?”

“
You look fabulous,” Shyar said, and walked over when Vaen beckoned her.

“
I know you have had a trying ordeal, but I think we are going to need to ask you a lot of questions. Just when it seemed things were getting under control, we suddenly have a major upset on our hands.”

Jolan’s emotions were out of control. He’d lost a couple of long time friends today. He had led Luzoke to his death. He’d also gotten the three spy-mages killed, something he regretted, but since he had only known them a short time, the impact was less. He didn’t know what to think about Ronoron. On the one hand, he wished he was alive so he could kill him himself. On the other, Jolan thought he understood the man’s motivation. Shyar’s unexpected escape and return pushed him the other way, into a euphoria that he could hardly contain. He wanted to take her away from this meeting and be able to talk with her privately. Unfortunately he knew they needed to understand what dangers they now faced and what precautions needed to be taken immediately.