Wizard's Blood [Part Two] (7 page)

He shifted in the saddle and sighed. He couldn’t very well let the whole kingdom fall just because he had personal issues with a couple of the people currently in charge. He had discovered information that could very well change the course of the war, and that had to be brought back to the Council. He’d decide when he arrived, and saw what kind of reception he received, how much of the peripheral matters he would reveal. Giving them access to the portals would mean someone would almost certainly get curious and pop into the other locations he’d really prefer to keep to himself, but that simply wouldn’t be possible.

There was no doubt the country was at war. The road had been heavily traveled with wagons loaded with goods destined for Seret via the tunnel in Burar. The port of Cobalo was filled with ships, far more than he could ever remember. He suspected that a final push to get materials shipped before the winter months with the very strong winds was part of the reason for the number of vessels docked, but it was possible he was seeing the new norm for the port. If only they were winning, but universally he’d heard that Ale’ald was slowly taking control of more of Kimlelm, and no one seemed to doubt it would fall completely before the first winter snows. The leadership had already fled to Seret, and were trying to wage the war from there.

Although he was tired from pressing hard the past five days, it was currently only midday and checking into an inn to rest, thereby postponing his visit to the College until tomorrow was a luxury he didn’t feel he should take. Instead he rode to the north gate and asked the guard to send a message to Mage Dibon that he was waiting to speak with him. Dibon was one of the good guys, and even if Jolan was not in favor, Dibon could be counted on to listen with an impartial ear.

Dibon must have been hard to find because Jolan waited almost an hour before the man suddenly rushed into the waiting area looking pointedly for Jolan. Seeing that Jolan was still there, he visibly relaxed and hurried over.

“
I’m sorry it took so long. I was in a meeting and the guard simply left the message on my desk rather than let me know.” He smiled, making Jolan feel welcome. He’d been starting to wonder if he’d lost the last of his friends here. “You look well. We’ve all been wondering where you got off too. No one has heard a word from you since you left back in the spring.”

“
I clearly wasn’t wanted here, so I went exploring for something that came to my attention last spring. It took me well into southern Angon.”

“
That’s changed. You are back in the good graces of the leadership.”

“
That’s good to hear, but why?”

“
You’ll understand in a bit. Come, there are people waiting to see you.”

“
Wait. No one I’ve talked to seemed to know. How is Chancellor Vaen? When I left she was doing poorly and some didn’t expect her to live. I’ve wondered about her many times but there was no way to check.”

“
She recovered. You will see in a minute. She’s the Chancellor again and that’s where we are headed.”

Dibon wouldn’t explain further, indicating Jolan would see soon enough.

“
What of the others?” Dibon asked suddenly. “Are they here in town with you? They have been sorely missed.”

“
They are far from here taking care of something I’m pursuing.”

Dibon nodded as if Jolan’s answer was not unexpected. They were keeping up a brisk pace, and soon entered the Council building. They headed up the stairs to Vaen’s office. Jolan knew the way as he’d been there often enough over the past year.

As they entered her office, Jolan realized that his old advisor Ward also waited inside. Vaen looked up as he entered, and Jolan was surprised when she stood and walked out from behind her desk to embrace him, without her cane. He’d never seen her walk without it before.

“
Thank the gods you’re back,” she said without preamble. “I was afraid you’d left and given up on us. When you disappear, you do a thorough job of it, don’t you?”

Jolan was still looking at her, not really paying attention to what she’d said. She noticed his look and laughed.

“
Yes, I do look good, don’t I?”

Vaen wasn’t kidding. Jolan hadn’t ever seen her looking like this. She looked years younger, and since she had been aging at about one year for every ten she lived, that said a lot.

“
Whatever it was they infected me with almost killed me, but once my body decided to fight, whatever was keeping me from aging was activated. I’ve physically gotten younger by almost ten years in the last two months. The medical people don’t understand it, and no one knows where it will stop. Hopefully sometime before I revert to my childhood. In the meantime, I’m feeling great.”

“
No side effects other than the fact you’re getting younger?” asked Jolan.

“
None, other than the despair from those that were hoping I’d finally be out of the way and they could take over my position. Now they worry I’ll be here another couple of hundred years.”

“
What happened to Lonid?”

Vaen frowned and walked back to her desk to sit, indicating Jolan should do the same.

“
We don’t know where he is. Once I recovered I took over control again. When I learned what stupid things he was doing, I had him removed from the Council. I didn’t think, and probably wouldn’t have had any right to detain him anyway, but within a few days no one saw him any more. He has moved out of Cobalo and no one seems to know where he has gone. He knows a great deal I would hate to see fall into the wrong hands.”

Jolan understood her concern. Lonid had intimate knowledge of many of their projects.

“
I’m sorry about Shyar,” Vaen said. “I didn’t learn about her kidnapping until long after you had left and I took over the office again. It wasn’t any secret that the two of you were lovers.”

“
You’ve received no word of her then?”

“
Nothing. I’m sorry.”

“
I expected that Cheurt might have sent some message, trying to use her as a lever against me. I’m not sure if I’m relieved or concerned that hasn’t happened. I don’t know how I’d react if one came.”

Jolan couldn’t believe she might be dead. He refused to consider the possibility. He would have to wait and see what actions Cheurt took, for there was no doubt he was the person responsible.

‘
That was an interesting man you sent our way a few months back,” said Ward.

For a minute Jolan was confused, then he remembered the man Nerila had sent back to Dibon.

“
Was he of any use?” asked Jolan. “I wasn’t entirely comfortable letting him go free.”

“
He gave us the names of a couple of Cheurt’s undercover wizards in the area. We were able to kill four of them. The rest disappeared. They weren’t willing to surrender, so we had no choice. The man died afterwards, you know. He seemed to have no purpose anymore. He just wasted away. What was it, compulsion?”

Jolan nodded. “Nerila had been studying compulsion trying to understand how it might be used against us. When we had a choice of killing the man or sending him here, she used the spell on him. She claims she’ll never do it again, for any reason. It made her physically sick.”

“
That girl is full of surprises,” said Vaen. “I never would have thought she’d wander off with you like she did, and now she comes up with something like this. I’d like to have a talk with her. I think we have been wasting her talents.”

“
Both she and Rifod have been more help than I ever would have thought,” said Jolan. “You have yet to see their latest contribution.”

Vaen looked at him with a question clearly on her mind, but Dibon changed the direction of the conversation suddenly.

“
You said you were in southern Angon all this time,” said Dibon. “What could have possibly prompted you to go there? Most of the place is useless desert.”

Chancellor Vaen and Ward looked surprised at this information. Obviously they hadn’t guessed where he’d gone.

“
We were exploring Ygooro,” said Jolan curious to see how they would react.

“
The lost Ygooro? You know where it is?” asked Vaen, her earlier question forgotten.

“
Even with a map it took us a bit to find it. There’s not too much left, but we have found it useful.”

Vaen shook her head. “You do come up with surprises, don’t you? How did you find a map for Ygooro, and what did you hope to find there?”

Jolan wasn’t sure he wanted to reveal how he’d come by the map, but he was willing to explain what took him there.

“
I sometimes get these feelings where something important can be found. That’s how I came upon my staff. Something told me I’d find something important in Ygooro. I was hoping it might be a way home, or something that could help with the war.”

“
And that’s where the rest of your group is? They’re still in Ygooro?”

“
Rifod and Nerila are still there. The rest are off on other errands.”

“
Off where?” asked Ward, now clearly curious what was going on.

“
Ronoran should be getting close to Carta by now, and Asari and Luzoke should be up by the great lake outside of Trailways.”

“
That’s behind Ale’ald’s lines,” said Dibon. “What are they doing there?”

“
I know,” said Jolan. “I’m a bit worried about that. If they get up to the lake, I doubt anyone will know they are there. Getting there might have been a problem. They are looking for Tilano, which is supposed to be hidden there somewhere. I hope to be able to talk with him in a day or so?”

“
Tilano? Why would you think Tilano is up there? No one has even found a trace of where it might be in a thousand years of searching. There were at least bits and pieces that indicated Ygooro was in the southern desert somewhere, but none of the expeditions ever found a thing. I think we should let you tell this in your own way,” suggested Vaen. “We’ve been so full of questions, we haven’t given you a chance to tell us why you came back.”

Jolan looked at the expectant faces around him.

“
Some of this I think we are going to want to keep secret. Maybe just among the members of this group, but that is for you to decide.” He looked around to see how they reacted. Seeing no dissent, he told them the rest “After we found the library in Ygooro, Nerila found a hand written note that told about the location of Tilano and the fact it had been hidden. Once she showed me the note, I had that same feeling that I had to go there. That is why Asari and the others are scattered about so.”

“
What does that have to do with Ronoran going to Seret?” asked Vaen, forgetting she was going to let Jolan tell this in his own way.

“
There is something I need in Seret,” answered Jolan, wondering if he should reveal this secret.

Vaen and the others were waiting, so he charged ahead.

“
I think the “key to the city” for Tilano is there,” he said.

“
What do you know of the “key” asked Ward.

“
I’ve heard the story that the key is necessary to open the city. If I find the city, then I’m going to need the key.”

“
Why would you believe there is such a thing?”

“
Because the Council has been after the man who supposedly took it for many years. There must be some truth to the story, or why would the Council care if it was taken?”

“
Altz is in Seret?” asked Vaen. “How do you know about Altz?”

“
He was. I hope he still is. He helped me before I came here. I had no idea what his issue was with the College until the matter came up in Ygooro.”

“
I want that man,” said Vaen. “He violated the confidence of his position and stole from this institution.”

“
I realize there is an outstanding matter to be resolved, but I would ask that you consider the ultimate end. I might be able to find him and get his help, but not if everyone is after him at the same time.”

“
How do you hope to make any of this work?” asked Dibon. “There’s a war on, and the distances between these places is immense. Winter is coming, and you have people in very remote locations.”

“
That’s the part I was getting to. Nerila learned something else while we were in Ygooro. She learned how to activate the portals.”

He could see they didn’t understand. He’d become used to knowing what the structures were for, but they had been around them all their lives and had never seen one work.

“
You know the large stone structures that are scattered around the countryside? There is one here at the College.”

“
Two,” said Ward interrupting. “We have one downstairs. A section of the building is build around it.”

That was good news, thought Jolan.

“
They are travel portals,” he said, continuing. “Once activated they allow nearly instantaneous travel between locations.”

“
Nerila learned how to activate these portals? And you know they work?”

“
We had two of them activated in the desert. One of them is underground next to the library, the other a few days ride away in a nice oasis where we stayed. We used them every day to travel between the oasis and where we were searching for clues.”

Jolan reached into his sack and pulled out the small Mage’s Box. He opened it and pulled out Asari’s book with the maps.

“
This is something Asari’s father found a few years ago. He couldn’t open it, but Ronoran could. We didn’t think it was important until we were able to activate the portals and understood what they did. There are thousands of them throughout the Settled Lands. They all probably still work. We can use them to move people from place to place without the long delays. But there are reasons to keep this secret.”