Richard had given them a chance to get to safety. They refused to take it.
He saw the masses of Glee that were left behind, apparently wary because of Sang’s warnings about dangerous magic, cautiously begin to move out from between and behind the smooth, flowing shapes of the rock. Cautious or not, he recognized Glee with murderous intent.
“Lord Rahl—hurry!” Vika yelled.
“Don’t stare at the lightning,” he told her.
“What lightning?”
Instead of taking precious time to answer her, Richard simply reached out and touched two separate primary intersections of converging, glowing, bluish lines and then closed his eyes. To cast the proper interior perspective of a verification web, he needed to use his gift. He could feel the power of the gateway’s constructed spell as it pulled his gift up from the depths of his soul.
He knew by the way it functioned that the gateway had to be powered by a constructed spell. It was clear that it was simply a type of constructed spell he had never encountered before. That being the case, he hoped that everything at least worked in the same way with the same procedures he knew.
As he felt the power from those bluish lines radiating up his arms, he didn’t try to resist. They were seeking within him what they needed. He knew that without Subtractive Magic the verification web would be sterile. He quickly opened his mind to what they were trying to pull from him and released his restraints.
His gift responded with such a rush of power it took his breath.
Time and movement outside the golden circle seemed to stop.
Inside that circle, almost instantly, both Additive and Subtractive Magic ignited from his outstretched arms with a deafening thunderclap. From his right hand, Additive Magic flashed in a twisting arc that would blind a person were they to stare right at it for more than a brief glance. Beyond the gold ring, Glee tried to shield their eyes with an arm. They might not be able to see magic, but this kind of power was something that even they could see. With his eyes closed, Richard could still see the bright, searing lines of the lightning right through his eyelids.
Almost at the same time, from his left hand, Subtractive Magic thundered into existence, shaking the ground. Unlike its opposite, it wasn’t at all bright. His eyes were closed, but he had seen it enough times that he could sense the cold void in the world of life that was blacker than death itself.
Now that his gift had responded and the full verification web had been ignited, Richard held both arms out as he squinted just enough to see the blindingly bright threads of crackling Additive lightning and shrieking threads of totally black Subtractive threads flickering and twisting all around him and Vika. Those threads of power arced upward from his hands and then cascaded down to the golden ring. The way they each turned and tumbled, they reminded him of wild beasts on a chain.
In his peripheral vision Richard could see the dark shapes of the Glee that had started racing toward the gold circle suddenly stop where they were as they saw power they couldn’t comprehend exploding into existence before them. They didn’t run, maybe because they were waiting for an opening to attack to save their precious device, or maybe because they couldn’t understand what it was they were seeing, or maybe because they were simply paralyzed by fear.
The whole perimeter of the golden circle that he and Vika had uncovered in the sand drew a network of thin Subtractive threads of inky black lightning as well as blindingly bright threads of Additive Magic, all of them flickering as they jumped and raced around the entire perimeter of the gold ring as if it were alive and trying to find a way to escape. But the golden circle prevented any escape. At least for the moment.
Richard closed his eyes again and swiftly raised both arms. Using all the power of his gift he abruptly brought the main trunks of those crackling, flickering discharges of Additive and Subtractive Magic up with his hands feeding them everything he had. Both of those arcing streams of thunderous power slammed together, rocking the mountain.
Instantly, all around the perimeter of the gold circle about waist high, a burst of dark energy powered by Subtractive Magic exploded outward in an ever-expanding ring. As it shot off in all directions, it instantly cut cleanly through the Glee where they stood and the rock towers behind them as well as those all around the mountaintop.
Richard saw what had just happened as if watching from outside his own body. With the threat stopped, he immediately used his gift to pull the Subtractive Magic he had allowed to escape back within the boundary of the gold ring.
The Glee had all been sliced cleanly in two and were dead before they tumbled to the ground. Some of the tops of the rock towers, suddenly separated by a void cut cleanly through them by Subtractive Magic, dropped straight down with a thud and stayed there, as if joining into one again. Others that were out of balance slowly began to tip over until they crashed down. Any of the Glee that had been behind the rock had also been cut in two and killed. No Glee that had come up on the mountain, other than those with Sang who had fled, escaped alive.
Everything had happened in a blinding flash of pure elemental power. What only a second before had been a dangerous threat, was no more. With the threat eliminated, Richard turned his attention back to the procedures for the ignition of the interior perspective of the verification web.
He allowed both kinds of lightning to twist and dance together. Countless threads of the combined power crackled all around them, forming a dome shape over Richard and Vika. The ends of all those thrashing threads grounded on the golden ring, like lightning drawn irresistibly to a tree. It didn’t seem to do any harm to the ring.
That part was unlike any verification-web procedure Richard had ever seen before, or heard of, but he realized that just because he hadn’t seen it before didn’t mean it was wrong, and was no reason to stop.
Within that dome of crackling power, all around Richard and Vika, the constructed spell rapidly built a network of yet more lines, confirming that everything about the spell was unfolding properly and as he had expected. As Richard concentrated on giving those lines the power they needed from his gift, they traced their way through the air, building a three-dimensional series of glowing lines.
Unlike the previous lines, these glowed orange, which was a rather discordant contrast in the red world. The bluish lines from before turned green when the orange lines intersected with them, changing them and adding to their structure. Lines of light raced through the air to support and reinforce geometric shapes. Triangles merged and formed complex angles and shapes of pure white light that lit the remaining towers of rock all around them in their soft glow.
The lines swiftly grew in purpose, creating an intricate web around Richard and Vika. Richard understood those lines and the elements of magic they represented. As they multiplied, the glowing lines continued to build, crisscrossing around the two of them at a dizzying rate. As they did, Vika pressed her back to his as yet more lines shot like arrows through space close in around them.
The lines, Richard knew, were routines of the spell-form, protocols that created the web to confirm what elements made up that spell-form. They were, in essence, a three-dimensional diagram of the constructed spell.
The lines continued to trace their routes with purpose and precision as the dome of crackling lightning overhead protected them. The symbols on the stone flashed in sequence. In the fabric of the web around them made of orange, white, and green lines, in the angles and junctions, Richard could read purpose and procedure, revealing how the spell and the strange power used by the gateway functioned.
Even though it was unlike any constructed spell he had seen before, in the complexity of glowing lines all around them, there was profound beauty of purpose.
Richard now understood how it all fit together and the underlying mechanism for how the gateway worked.
And, he now understood exactly what he had to do to alter the gateway.
75
Richard looked back over his shoulder at Vika. “Are you a
ll right?”
“Peachy,” she said above the crackling noise of the lightning flickering all around them.
Richard smiled. “Good.”
She cast a worried look around the dancing and glimmering dome of power, then gazed back at him. “As far as your crazy ideas go, this one might be the craziest.”
“Well, I have to tell you, I haven’t yet gotten to the crazy part.”
She carefully avoided touching any of the glowing lines as she used her hands on him to twist herself around until she was facing his back. She circled one arm around his waist to make sure she stayed close enough in case he moved. He was glad, at least, that she was taking the danger of the glowing lines seriously.
“What?” she yelled out. “This isn’t the crazy part?”
“No. I just wanted to make sure you are all right because I’m about the do the crazy part. I’m going to need your help to do some of it with me.”
She shook her head. “Sure, why not. I have nothing better to do.”
He gestured around at the complex network of luminous blue, green, orange, and white lines of the verification web. “I’m going to have to extinguish some of these glowing orange lines in order to open up a corridor of sorts that you and I can move through to get to the gateway device.”
“Should I go with you?”
“Yes. Once I clear away enough of the lines, then when I start to move toward the stone, I want you to move with me, like you are my shadow. Can you do that?”
“Of course. But that doesn’t sound like it’s the crazy part.”
“It’s not. When I’m ready and we start to move, keep your arms in close. Be careful not to let any part of you touch the lines, because they will cut a slab of flesh right off you.”
“I understand.”
“I’m going to extinguish some of the lines, but I can’t get rid of them all quite yet or the web will collapse, and I still need it, so it will be a narrow space and we will have to be careful.”
“I understand. But there is something that I think you should know, first.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
She pointed down. “We’re not touching the ground. We’re floating about a foot above it.”
“I know. It’s part of the process. When I extinguish some of the lines, we will settle down to the ground and be able to walk to the stone.”
Once he was sure that she wasn’t going to panic and do something that might get her killed—he realized as soon as he had the thought that Mord-Sith didn’t panic and they didn’t necessarily fear getting killed, as long as it was in service to protect him—he began reaching out and touching his first finger and thumb together at key intersections in the web. Since the lines were in part a creation of his own gift, he knew that as long as he was careful, they wouldn’t harm him the way they would harm Vika.
As he touched the first intersection of lines above and a little to the right, two of the lines crossing in front of him vanished. He continued to pinch off primary junctions of lines, in a way cauterizing the flow of power so that it wouldn’t bleed away, and the web would remain viable.
As he pinched off intersections at the proper nodes, it extinguished lines in midair between him and the stone at the edge of the ring. With each that vanished, he could reach farther in to touch other prime points where complex networks of glowing orange lines came together. As he worked, he and Vika gradually sank toward the ground.
Once their feet touched the ground, he spoke to Vika back over his shoulder. “I’m going to move closer to the stone. Stay close.”
“Don’t worry. Just think of me as your shadow.”
Richard worked as he moved deeper until he had an adequate corridor opened to the stone. It wasn’t roomy, but it provided enough space for them to get through. Once there, he started clearing the glowing lines from all around the stone to give himself the access he would need to all the symbols.
“All right, I’m ready for the next part. Don’t be alarmed.”
“Nothing you do alarms me anymore.”
He smiled as he pulled his silver-handled knife from the sheath at his belt. It had an ornate letter “R” on it for the House of Rahl. It was a reminder of home, Kahlan, and all he had left behind, as well as his responsibility to his own world.
As Vika watched over his shoulder, Richard gritted his teeth and drew the razor-sharp blade across his forearm, cutting deep enough to bleed sufficiently to provide the blood he would need. He ignored the stinging pain of the cut and wiped the knife in the blood, turning it over, collecting all of it he could on the blade.
He held the knife level so that the blood wouldn’t all run down and drip off. Leaning over, he touched a series of three emblems in the language of Creation with just enough Additive Magic to initiate a reset of the gateway. Each one he touched confirmed that touch of magic with a slight vibration and a tone.
Once done with that, he held the knife over the stone to let the blood drip from the tip of the blade into the slot on the top where Sang had shown him they put their claw.
“What are you doing?” Vika sounded apprehensive.
“I thought you said that nothing I do alarms you anymore.”
“I’m not alarmed. I’m Mord-Sith. I’m curious.”
Richard held the knife steady to make sure all the blood continued to drip into the slot. “I’m altering the protocols with my blood so that the gateway will only recognize a Rahl from now on.”
“That’s actually not crazy.”
“Just wait,” he whispered.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Richard swiftly stroked the edge of the blade up his arm again to collect more blood. Once he had, he quickly held it over the slot, letting more of his blood drip from the tip into the slot. He didn’t know how much would be needed to accomplish what he wanted to do, but he decided it would be best to be sure it was plenty rather than risk having too little.
As he dripped the blood in the second time, the ground began to rumble like distant thunder. A soft glow appeared in the air over the sand within the gold ring.
Richard looked back at Vika. “Now comes the crazy part.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You mean none of this was the crazy part?”
“No, not really.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t have time to explain. The reset is active. I need to complete the series.”
“What can I do to help?”
“I need to hold an arm around this stone. I will reach back with my other arm. I want you inside the gold ring as close as you can get to the center of that glowing light and still be able to stretch out an arm and hold my hand.”
Seeing his grim expression, she nodded. “All right. Anything else?”
“Just don’t let go of my hand no matter what happens.”
“I won’t,” she said earnestly before she started carefully working her way back through the corridor in glowing orange lines. She turned and stretched her arm out, waiting for his hand.
Richard put his right arm around the stone, with his wrist hooked up over the top on the other side so that he could hold the knife, still dripping his blood, over the slot in the slanted top of the stone.
With his left hand, he reached down and touched the reset sequence with his palm. He used enough of a flow of Subtractive Magic to close the verification web. As soon as he felt the final emblem vibrate under his palm, confirming that it accepted the instruction, all the glowing lines instantly turned to smoke. Those lines of smoke swirled a little in the air before they quickly began to vanish. In a moment they were gone.
But in their place the softly glowing air within the golden ring began to vibrate with an ever-increasing roar that hurt his ears.
Richard looked back at Vika. She was wincing against the pain of the thundering roar.
“You will need to bend over a little more to be able to reach me!” He had to yell to make sure she could hear him over th
e strange vibrating, rumbling noise.
She nodded as she did as he asked, bending at the waist and stretching her arm out toward him while keeping her feet in the center of the sand. She held the position, waiting for him to grab her hand.
With his left hand, Richard quickly pressed his palm to the final reset authentication emblem. It pulsed a bright red to confirm that it recognized him. As soon as it did, he immediately stretched his left arm back to Vika. She grimaced against the pain of the sound as she grabbed and then gripped his hand like her life depended on it.
It did.
He again read the critical emblem in the language of Creation that was facing him. Because it was so important, the same emblem was on all four sides of the stone so that it couldn’t be missed. Each emblem was the same. It translated roughly to “Keep your target in mind.”
He didn’t need to know what that meant to tell him. He understood it from using a bow and arrow. When he shot, he called the target. That was what the gateway meant him to know. As strange as it seemed, it felt to him as if the gateway, now that it had his blood, was reading what was in his mind and using what he already knew in order to guide him.
It was like they were now of one mind and one purpose.
Richard looked back at Vika. “Once more into darkness!” he cried out over the roar.
Hugging his right arm around the stone, target firmly in mind, he reached over the top with his right hand and slammed the silver knife down into the slot in the stone.
76
The air within the gold ring that had been glowing with a roar abruptly began to flare with points of light packed together so tightly that it almost looked like the air itself was burning white hot. All of those sparkling points of light gave off a crackling sound that replaced the roar but was just as loud.
Into Darkness Page 35
