by Blink, Bob
His first act would be to begin the search for others with the gift. Without the knowledge of how to activate the mental nodes of a wizard, a skill that had been learned painfully slowly over many centuries, each new wizard would be restricted to the first level at which all wizards were born. He could accelerate their growth and release their full potential. He could also pass to them the full knowledge of magic as it was known today so that they could almost immediately perform all the skills their personal affinity supported. Otherwise, most would be very limited in what they could do, and centuries would be required to rediscover what was truly possible. Man wouldn’t have those centuries to learn. He must be ready far more quickly.
Daim was tired. Charging the ring had taken a great deal out of him, but he knew it wasn’t merely that. He had sensed the change a couple of days ago. He was certain that finally his time had come. He had contracted the disease. He had at best a couple more days. His future self would not know of whatever happened to him from this point forward. His memories in the ring ended at the time it was created. That was best. He wouldn’t want his future self to carry around the memory of his last moments in this time.
Taking one last look around, he was reassured that he had done all that he could. He was done here. He had great hopes that he would succeed, but only time would tell. He didn’t want his desiccated bones to be found here by his future self, and had decided he would return to his home. He hadn’t been there in thirty some years. His parents were long gone, of course. He wondered if either his brother or sister still lived. He would find out. Even if not, it felt right to end it all where it had started.
Slowly he walked over to the open space he’d created in the corner free of anything else so that Bypass portals could easily be created. He opened a Bypass to the long forgotten lands in the far south. Without a backward look he stepped through. Moments later the Bypass portal closed behind him leaving a deep silence that wouldn’t be disturbed for centuries. After a few minutes the glowing lights from the ceiling faded to dark.
Chapter 63
Present Day
The body that was Rigo’s but which was now occupied by someone else, moved carefully across the room as if the occupant were testing his ability to control it. Rigo, or whoever it was, moved very differently than he had before. He appeared to be much, much older, and lacked the assurance and lightness of step of one Rigo’s age. After several minutes he returned to where the group stood rooted, uncertain how to proceed. The ancient, cold eyes that had replaced Rigo’s looked out at them.
Daim was surprised that the others were there in the sanctuary. He should have been alone. But that wasn’t the worst of the catastrophe. The mind of the individual who had owned this body had discovered a great deal. From what Daim had already gleaned from the memories offered he was late. Fifty years later than he’d planned. The first of the staffs had failed completely, and the second had only partially completed its task. At least the final backup had worked, but instead of being presented with a purged and clean mind, he had the former occupant to deal with.
“I know each of you,” he said in the oddly accented words that sounded so strange in Rigo’s voice.
“You’re Kaler, the fighter,” he said pointing. “And you’re Ash’urn. Tell me about the Hoplani,” he commanded. There was no doubt it was a command and not a request.
“The what?” Ash’urn asked uncertainly. He was not at all happy with what was happening.
“The Hoplani. The beasts outside,” Master Daim commanded. “Tell me about them.”
Quickly Ash’urn described the beasts and what they knew of them as well as the fact a large herd had chased them into this place.
“So, what I have gleaned from this mind is correct. It was not my own thoughts being echoed back at me. They have returned in force already. That is very unfortunate. It is another indication that something has not gone as planned and I am late.”
Master Daim spoke the words aloud, but it was clear they were really meant for himself. He was not yet in complete control of Rigo’s body.
“What have you done with Rigo?” Daria demanded unexpectedly.
Daim looked at her surprised. It was obvious he was considering whether to ignore her completely. Finally he shrugged and said, “The one you call Rigo is gone. This is now my body. That was the whole purpose of his coming here. I just wish he’d gotten here on time.” There was more to the truth, however. Daim was surprised to know the name of the owner of the body and to have access to his memories. Furthermore, the body was not that of a youth, but of a young man in his maturity. Something had gone wrong. He was here, but what did it mean? He was fearful that the magic had failed in some way and he had more of a task ahead of him than he had expected. Perhaps he was too late. Also, what was he to do with the frantic mind that shared this body with him?
Rigo’s four friends were stricken with the words. Rigo gone? Could it be? Their friend lost and this stranger now occupying his body.
“Who are you?” Jeen demanded. “You have no right to do this.”
Daim didn’t even consider this worth answering. He looked around the room as if he hadn’t seen it in some time as he was curious how everything had fared. The others watched as he pulled off the ring that had triggered the transformation and carelessly tossed it aside. Its function was complete. It had no further use.
“At least this place survived as planned,” he mumbled and started across the room to a large open space. The man was still not fully in control, but they could all see he was becoming more comfortable in Rigo’s body by the moment.
Once he reached the large open space on the western edge of the room, gestured and a glowing arch appeared in the open space. Daim ambled toward the opening, then hesitated. He turned back toward them.
“I’ll be leaving now. Once I’m gone the spells I built into this place will make you want to leave. You are resourceful enough. I suggest you make your way back where you came from. With a little luck you will be able to outsmart the Hoplani once again.”
“What is that?” Kaler asked.
“It’s a better way of getting around. You don’t think I plan to walk all the way across the Ruins like you did?”
“Take us with you,” Ash’urn urged. “We’ll have no chance against those things outside.”
Daim waved his hand brushing off the suggestion. “Matters are too far gone. I have no time to be bothered with you. I must see what the state of events is. It is important that I verify what the memories of this body have told me. You have served your purpose. You brought Rigo to me.” He turned and started walking toward the arch.
He had made it most of the way across the floor when he hesitated, then stopped.
“I am not myself,” he said as he turned around. His eyes found Jeen. “You,” he said pointing. “You are one of the gifted. You are weak, barely an acceptable apprentice at the moment, but I can sense a potential greatness within you. I’ll have need of every wizard. You will come with me. Later I’ll show you how to release your full potential.”
As the man talked, Jeen shrunk backwards, attempting to hide behind her friends. Kaler and Daria stepped in front of her to shield her from the callous individual who now occupied Rigo’s body.
“Come now,” Daim said annoyed. “I haven’t time for this. There is much to be done. Without conscious thought he brushed aside Kaler and Daria, and used his power to force Jeen forward.
Angrily she released her strongest blast of white energy at the man. It simply dissipated harmlessly in the air halfway toward the man. She’d never seen something like that happen before.
“Apprentice level Brightfire,” Daim said amused. “Useless against a master such as myself, of course, but at least you have the right spirit.” He wrapped something unseen around her and she knew that somehow he had disabled her ability to use her magic. “Come now,” he commanded, and she felt herself walking after him unbidden.
Jeen was leading the way toward the a
rch, with the wizard following close behind her. As the wizard passed, Kaler grabbed the staff, which Daim appeared to be ignoring, and swung it swiftly at the man’s retreating back. Normally Kaler would have used his sword, but in his mind he was seeing Rigo and he wasn’t yet ready to accept the loss of his friend and take irreversible action. The staff moved with great speed and landed squarely at the wizards shoulders where Kaler had aimed. Except, somehow it missed! The Staff passed through the space where he’d thought the wizard was, and he had to fight to control his over swing. Before he could recover for another attempt, Daim had turned and with a careless gesture, ripped the staff from his hands and tossed it across the room where it clattered against the wall.
Daria was already in action as well. No one, wizard or not, would force one of their group to do anything against their desires. She owed this man for two offenses now. Trying to take Jeen and for killing her friend Rigo. Two offenses were more than most people got and it was all this one would ever have. Two knives were already in the air heading directly for the body of the wizard. It might have been Rigo’s once, but that time was past and she couldn’t and wouldn’t let that deter her. As the deadly knives reached their target she had already extracted another pair and was preparing to jump on the man and slit his throat as he crumpled to the ground. Unfortunately the knives blurred and passed through the space where the wizard stood, reappearing and crashing into the wall behind him. Daria found herself unable to move, the second pair of knives held ready, but useless in her paralysis.
Daim looked at the two, then let his eyes go to Ash’urn. Ash’urn quickly muttered something under his breath and disappeared. Daim cursed, and with a wave of his hand caused Ash’urn to reappear. He looked at the assembled group.
“You are a surprising lot,” he said finally. “Very quick, and willing to take on a Master Wizard with such primitive weapons. It is obvious you have no idea what a Master Wizard can do. Perhaps you can be of use for a while. You might also be able to help me understand the state of the world, although I have a set of memories from your former friend that I suspect will suffice. The choice is yours. If you wish to follow along, step through the Bypass after us. I will leave it open for a few moments for you to decide.” Then he pushed Jeen forward and stepped through after her. The two disappeared from view and as they did so the invisible restraining force holding the others in place dissipated. They looked at one another for the briefest of moments, then followed through the arch after the wizard.
“I see you decided,” Daim said as they appeared in the new location.
“We can’t be here,” Kaler said as he looked around at their former campground next to the pond by the ruins of the village outside the exit to the long tunnel that had brought them under the mountains. The others were shocked as well.
Daim smiled. “I thought you would be impressed. It beats walking the way you did to get to my sanctuary in the Ruins.”
“Why are we here?” Daria asked as she continued to look around and verify they were really back where they had started their trip into the Ruins.
“We will be expecting company before long,” Daim replied. “Now, have you convinced yourself that there is nothing you can do against me so I can leave you free to be useful, or do I need to bind you with magic to keep you from being a nuisance?” He peered carefully at each of them.
After a few moments, they nodded slowly. They might have a chance, but it appeared they had to learn more before being able to act. For the moment, the wizard held the winning hand.
“Good. Now, you two can be useful and hunt up some game. We will be ten for dinner, so plan accordingly. You,” and he pointed to Jeen, “go and get that necklace hanging just outside of the village. And you, this time he pointed to Ash’urn, get a fire going. I need to think.”
“Ten?” Kaler asked.
“I told you we would be having company. Now get moving.”
Dutifully the former members of Rigo’s band went about their assigned tasks. For some reason they didn’t think of doing otherwise. Kaler and Daria were soon out of sight and could have slipped away. It wasn’t that they would have to desert their friends to escape, although that was part of it. There was something more, and both realized that Daim had backed up his instructions with some kind of magic restraint that forced them to act as he wished.
The wild pig was spitted and nearly cooked when they heard the sounds of several people approaching through the stand of trees that blocked their location from view. Daria sat up straight, her hands hovering near her remaining knives. Kaler unconsciously checked his sword in the scabbard. Daim simply smiled and stood to greet the newcomers. Moments later Burke and three others stepped out into the clearing.
“I was right!” Burke said smugly as he walked over to the group. His eyes noted that Rigo was no longer holding the staff that had caused him trouble in the past. This was perfect. He would have him under his control in no time. He would bring the two wizards here back with him and be done with this. He hadn’t decided what to do with the others yet. It was too bad they had to risk the Ruins again to get back to the travel point. The trip here had nearly cost him one of his people. The number of Razmot was greater than he’d ever seen before. They would need to send a team down here to thin them out.
Burke had made a plan before coming here and had cleared it with the Elders. If they discovered a novice wizard, then the approach would be the usual one. He would do his best to charm and impress the beginner and then bring whoever it was back with them. If, however it was Rigo, or Rigo and someone else, the approach would be different. Those with him were armed with small blow tubes loaded with darts dipped in a special compound. The darts would put Rigo to sleep instantly, disabling any ability he had to resist. While he was under, the healer with him would use his magic to muddle Rigo’s brain, and keep him that way until they were back where he could be controlled. Getting through the Ruins wouldn’t be fun, but he could see no other options. Burke just wished he knew where that staff was.
He signaled the others to release the darts and was pleased to see they had been ready as instructed. Three of the treated darts flew unerringly at Rigo. Only one was needed, so it appeared that there was nothing to worry about. Unfortunately, the darts somehow missed. Burke couldn’t see how it could have happened. He could see they were on target, but then they appeared to pass by their intended target. Rigo stood, unhit. Burke was certain from their last meeting that Rigo hadn’t known the magic required to make this happen, so what had changed? Clearly something had and that made Rigo more dangerous. Rigo was about to speak when Burke shifted to his backup plan. The Elders had declared if it appeared he couldn’t be captured, no risks were to be taken. Their position was that it was better he be destroyed than allowed to run around loose. He could do untold harm to their effort and potentially reveal the existence of those with magical power. Burke released his strongest bolt of the powerful white energy directly at Rigo. It was too bad. They might have learned something from him. But even as he released the powerful magic bolt he realized he wasn’t comfortable with killing another such as himself.
Once again Burke’s expectations proved wrong. The bolt of pure magical energy seemed to falter and then dissipate well before it reached Rigo. He was stunned. He was as powerful as anyone with that particular magic and had never seen it fail before. He was about to try again when some kind of invisible cloud surrounded him. He couldn’t see it, but could sense its presence. He was unable to access his magic, nor could he move a muscle. He could see his friends were similarly constrained.
Rigo stood and smiled sadly. “You all seem particularly fond of Brightfire,” Rigo said, although he sounded differently than Burke recalled. He seemed older and more confident. “It is a powerful spell, but can be countered if one knows how. I’m Master Daim by the way. The person you were expecting no longer exists.”
Daim walked closer and Burke noted the eyes. Burke could see that something had indeed changed Rigo.<
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“You’re pretty strong for an apprentice,” Daim said. “I’d guess you’re a level three. Who has been training you?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Burke replied. “What’s a level three?”
Daim looked at him closely, then nodded. “I’ve never known one to advance on his own,” he muttered to himself. “It’s even rare for one to be born above a two.”
“What have you done? Release me immediately,” Burke insisted.
“Soon enough,” Daim said. “First you need to understand a few things. “As I have said, I’m not Rigo. I believe you can see that my abilities far outmatch your own. There is nothing you can do to resist me, so you would be advised not to annoy me by trying. You are valuable to me only in that you can explain what is happening. I have been out of touch for a very long while, and did not reappear in quite the time and manner I had prepared.”
Daim held out the necklace that Jeen had fetched a while earlier.
“You came here directed by this,” Daim said, not needing confirmation. “This is Jeen. She is no longer your concern. She will be my apprentice and you will carry that word back with you.”
Daim held out the necklace in his hand and then closed his fist around it. When he opened his hand a powdery dust fell to the ground. The necklace was gone.
“How did you do that?” Burke asked amazed. “No one knows how to create or destroy the trackers.”
“It just shows how much you have to learn,” Daim said contemptuously. “I’m going to release you so you can move. We have dinner prepared. I would advise you to sit and eat. I have questions to be answered. Once that is done you can return where you came from. I will visit there soon enough. You can tell the others there to expect me.”
“I won’t tell you where we live,” Burke said bravely.
“You would if I wished, but I already know where you have your camp. I’ve been there many times before.”
