Ancient Magic

by Blink, Bob

  “I’m always surprised by the heat the Ruins generate,” Ash’urn said as they adjusted to the change in temperature. The rest of the three kingdoms were growing cold and the winter season approached. Yet here on the border to the devastated lands, the winds carried uncomfortably warm breezes their way. It could be the middle of the hottest month of the year from the temperatures they had to endure. They wouldn’t be going out into the Ruins as part of the search. Rigo could see no reason that I’Vorris would have ventured out into that unforgiving landscape. While a wizard could handle the challenges offered by the forbidden lands reasonably well, a Normal would suffer and soon be forced out. What I’Vorris sought were beasts that had crossed into Lopal, and therefore would be somewhere along the border.

  This was the fourth day of their search. They had concluded the third day without seeing any sign of I’Vorris, nor of the Hoplani as they jumped from location to location. They had returned to the inn as planned, and now, the morning of the fourth day had jumped back to where they had ended the search the evening before. After scanning the area to regain their bearings and establish that nothing had changed, Shara pointed to the distant hill that would be their next stop and opened a Bypass.

  The morning passed as had the last couple of days and they gradually moved southward without sign of man nor Hoplani. They could only move so fast or they might miss the small band that I’Vorris had left his village with so many weeks earlier. Rigo couldn’t help feeling there must be a better way to search such a vast area. It was early afternoon when they found the first sign of Hoplani.

  “Two of them,” Rigo said as they turned their eyes inland toward Lopal where the tracks led.

  “There,” Shara said, pointing to a pair of indistinct spots on the side of a hill a considerable distance away.

  Rigo peered the direction she was pointing, and shielding his eyes he finally spotted the two creatures by the difference in their color as compared to the surrounding hills. They were too far away to spot any real movement.

  He nodded, and soon they had jumped to the nearby hill and could now see the beasts as they slowly headed west. It was important to eliminate any they found, but Rigo had hoped the creatures might have been discovered by others, and they might find I’Vorris in that manner. From their closer perspective, it was obvious that hadn’t happened this time.

  The Hoplani were still some distance away, but Rigo was strong enough that he could destroy them from their current vantage point, and was about to release the magic to do so when Ash’urn held up his hand.

  “Wait,” he said. “I’d like to get closer first.”

  “Why?” Rigo asked, surprised. He could see nothing unique about these two although they were the first they had encountered since starting the search.

  “Humor me,” Ash’urn asked.

  Rigo shrugged, and created a Bypass that took them within a hundred paces of the beast, but behind and off to one side where they wouldn’t be as easily seen.

  “Close enough?” he asked Ash’urn, who peered carefully at the creatures, then nodded, and surprisingly started to hurry toward them, signaling Rigo and Shara to follow him.

  Shara shot Rigo a questioning glance, but they followed after Ash’urn who was soon off to the side of the closest creature, having narrowed the distance to fifty paces.

  This was unreasonably close to the dangerous creatures and Rigo couldn’t help wondering what Ash’urn was up to. He had always shown the Hoplani respect, if not outright fear. Already the two animals were huffing and snorting as if they realized something was different and Rigo knew it wouldn’t be long before they turned and noticed them. The three of them were well within range of the magical energy the creatures could release.

  “Watch,” Ash’urn whispered as the two wizards came up beside him, “and please be ready to take action if this doesn’t work.”

  Wondering what Ash’urn was up to, Rigo watched the old scholar as he focused intently on the nearest beast and mumbled something softly under his breath. Rigo was familiar with Ash’urn’s ability to generate certain magic this way, but was unprepared for the sudden release of a bright narrow beam of energy that shot toward the Hoplani. The beam was tightly focused, no more than the thickness of Rigo’s wrist and a dirty white in color as opposed to the blinding white of his own Brightfire. It was pitifully weak, yet it struck the Hoplani in the neck and earned a bellowing scream of pain from the creature. Ash’urn set his feet and muttered again, releasing a second beam much like the first, striking the creature again, this time more forward on the head. The Hoplani stumbled, and started to turn toward its tormentor.

  Things were about to get real interesting Rigo thought, and prepared himself for action.

  The creature’s head was almost aligned with Ash’urn with the deadly horns glowing with a pre-release of energy. Rigo was just about to dispatch the creature when a third beam was created by Ash’urn. The beam, which once again struck the creature in the head - this time nearly face on - was able to complete the job. The Hoplani screamed once more, then collapsed unmoving on the ground.

  The second of the creatures was responding to the cries by its twin, and was now moving their way, picking up speed. It released a pair of magical bursts which struck some ten paces to one side of them. Fortunately the beasts were not accurate with their releases.

  “That one is yours,” Ash’urn said hurriedly, his face looking drawn and sweaty, with a touch of concern as he watched the animal hurrying their way.

  Rigo quickly dispatched the creature before it could get any closer or release any more of the energy blasts. Unlike the creature that Ash’urn had killed, Rigo’s was burned to a cinder, the remains all but unrecognizable.

  Carefully they walked over to the downed Hoplani that Ash’urn had managed somehow to kill. When they checked there was no doubt the beast was dead, and now that they were close enough they could see the three distinct burn marks on the head where the marginally powered beams had struck.

  Rigo turned to Ash’urn and asked, “How did you manage that?”

  Ash’urn grinned weakly, but obviously pleased with himself. “Can we find a place to sit? Then I’ll explain.”

  Shara pointed to a shady group of trees on one of the nearby hills, and once they were seated comfortably and Ash’urn had taken several gulping swallows of water from his skin, he explained.

  “It’s one of the verbal spells like I showed you before,” he explained.

  “I thought you only knew a couple of such spells, and nothing like you just demonstrated,” Rigo said. “Have you somehow learned more?”

  Ash’urn nodded. “Quite a number actually. Thank Nycoh for that. That girl is amazing. Not only can she read the ancient texts, but she has an astonishing ability to take a few spoken words of the language and extrapolate the sounds to reason out other words. We have been working together for some time with the text I recovered from my stash with the spells. She was able to locate the descriptions and written text for the four I knew, and we, her mostly, gradually were able to figure out a number of others. Most are of marginal use, especially given what you wizards can do, but she found one that was described as death light. It was horribly more complex than most of the others. A real tongue twister. It took us several weeks to work it out and for me to learn the precise intonation and cadence of the words. But once we got it, well you saw the result.”

  “And that’s why you were so insistent on coming here?” Rigo asked. “You wanted to try it out and see if you could kill one of the Hoplani.”

  Ash’urn nodded. “You see what it means? A Normal has a chance against the beasts. There are limitations and the beam is far, far weaker than the lowest novice wizard, but it can do the trick. Build a force of five or six Normals with the ability, and working together they should be able to dispatch the creatures if encountered singly or in pairs.”

  “Can anyone learn the spell?” Shara asked.

  Ash’urn shook his head. “I’d guess
only a small fraction will be able to master the language. Fortunately, those from Lopal are more versatile in language than most due to the dialects of the dispersed tribes. But we could establish a training center and even if only one in a hundred could demonstrate the talent, a force could be created to patrol the border and deal with a large portion of the sightings. That would greatly relieve the wizard community which is becoming overwhelmed with chasing Hoplani, seeking new wizards, and patrolling the Ruins themselves.”

  “Why haven’t you said anything before this?” Rigo asked.

  “A test was necessary. I thought this would be more convincing. There is one other restriction. Unlike you wizards who seem to have no problem creating such beams all day, they take a lot out of us Normals. I’m beat, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to just sit here the rest of the afternoon.”

  Chapter 87

  After the surprise success of Ash’urn’s spell-making, Rigo was insistent that he go back to civilization and start working on a training class to determine if the ability could be taught to others. They spent a day in Sulen talking with King Rhory, who assigned a number of the guard to attend the sessions that Ash’urn would be setting up. Loum would be in charge of seeing that Ash’urn received all of the recruits and cooperation he needed. After being certain that Ash’urn was settled in, and promising to check back periodically, Rigo and Shara returned to the search for I’Vorris.

  More than another week passed before they spotted a small band of people late in the day camped in the distance on the edge of a small pond at the base of one of the scraggly hills. They opened a Bypass that put them a short walk away, and then slowly wandered toward the camp. When spotted, a half dozen armed men moved to intercept them, but seeing they were apparently unarmed, and a man and a young woman, the tenseness of their unexpected appearance soon passed.

  “Where did you come from?” one of the tribesmen asked. “There is no village for many days. You don’t appear to have sufficient supplies to survive out here.”

  It was a reasonable question. Since Ash’urn had left their search, Rigo and Shara had started returning to the inn each night. Camping out had lost its appeal and Shara confessed she’d never really enjoyed it.

  “We have come in search of one named I’Vorris,” Rigo responded, ignoring the question. “Is he among you?”

  “Why would you wish to speak to the former Lamane?” the man asked, telling Rigo by the question that they had finally located the man they sought.

  “We have news of the war and can aid you in your quest against the creatures from the Ruins.”

  The man looked doubtful, but leaving them in the hands of two others, walked away and went to speak with someone in the center of the camp. Before long, he signaled their guards to bring them in. Rigo had no doubt they had finally located I’Vorris. The man they were taken to had the unmistakable aura of power and command.

  I’Vorris had been wounded. His left arm was scratched where they could see the skin while the rest was heavily bandaged with a dirty piece of clothing. His eyes were red, suggesting a possible infection. And he seemed to favor one leg.

  “You claim to know something of the war,” I’Vorris asked. His voice was powerful and resonated as he spoke. Rigo could easily see him in command.

  “The war is over,” Rigo said bluntly. “All of the armies have returned home.”

  “Over?” I’Vorris said shocked. “So soon? How could this be? How did the war go? From your dress and accent you appear to be from Branid. Could Lopal have lost?”

  “It’oni is dead,” Rigo said bluntly. “So is Elm’ad. There were no victors or losers this time.”

  “I am not surprised at It’oni’s death. Sooor said it would be so. It came much sooner than I would have guessed. How did he die?”

  “I killed him,” Rigo responded bluntly. “I killed Elm’ad as well. Neither man was willing to understand the war could not be permitted. The battle you are fighting is where we must focus our energies. No one won. The armies have been ordered to stand down.”

  “Who ordered this?”

  “I did.”

  I’Vorris studied Rigo doubtfully. Finally he said, “I cannot believe that you could be responsible for the deaths of two such leaders, or be able to command entire armies and expect them to follow your demands. Even if true, how could you be here? The war is weeks away. There has been no time for you to make the journey. Your claims do not seem truthful to me.”

  “Shara and I sleep each night in Sulen,” Rigo said. “Distance has little meaning to us. We are something you have never encountered before and it will take some convincing for you to believe what I’m about to tell you. We possess the ancient power of magic. We can kill the Hoplani, the beasts you seek. We can heal your wounds. I made it painfully clear to It’oni’s army that they could not stand against the power of magic. I will show you if you permit it.”

  “Magic is for children,” I’Vorris said automatically, but he remained interested. Rigo wondered if something the Seer had told him made him more receptive than most to his claims.

  “What of your Seer Sooor? You appear to place faith in her visions. I would like to speak with her.” Daim had been pushing him to ask about the woman.

  “You speak as if you believe in her powers,” I’Vorris said. “Most consider me odd to trust in her words. They call her a witch.”

  “Seers have always been rare and frequently misunderstood. Those with great ability especially so.”

  I’Vorris sighed. “It doesn’t matter. Sooor is gone. She died the day we first encountered one of the beasts. She had warned that she wouldn’t return from this journey. I failed to understand she had foreseen her own death. Still she came because she knew I had to find them to be certain the tales were true.”

  Rigo could almost feel Daim groan inside him. Daim had hoped she might be able to foretell what lay ahead.

  “When did you encounter the beasts?” Rigo asked.

  “Beast,” I’Vorris corrected him. “Only one of them, yet it killed more than ten of my men, and wounded or maimed another fifteen. The things cannot be killed. We wounded it I’m certain, but it still escaped. We made this camp to try and care for those who were attacked, yet still live. Two more of the creatures passed just south of here yesterday, but we were in no state to challenge them. You claim you can kill them? I would like to see how that is done.”

  “They are creatures of magic,” Rigo explained. “The magic I possess can easily dispatch them. In one afternoon one group of my comrades destroyed a herd of ten thousand of the Hoplani.”

  I’Vorris looked at Rigo uncertainly. He didn’t believe that the claims being made were possible. “You speak of wondrous abilities, yet I have seen no indication you are any different than anyone else. When can I see some proof of your claims?”

  For the first time Shara spoke up. “You are wounded. You say you have others who are similarly wounded. I can heal them whatever their condition. Allow me to demonstrate.” She reached out toward I’Vorris, but he held up his hand.

  “I am not certain I should trust you, yet I have several men who will not survive the night. They have little to lose if your words are false. Show me you can do as you claim with them. Then we will consider how to proceed.”

  I’Vorris pointed the way, and they walked across the camp closer to the pond. The wounded were spread out as comfortably as possible, with the most severely damaged off to one side. One look and Rigo could see why I’Vorris was certain they would not survive. The mauling and burns from the Hoplani’s magic were too severe to reasonably expect the men to survive. Shara hissed and knelt beside one of the men.

  “With your permission?” she asked.

  I’Vorris nodded and watched closely as Shara placed her hands on the damaged arm of the man in front of her. The gasps of surprise from I’Vorris and two of the guards that had followed them when Shara’s healing glow appeared were easily heard. More murmurs of surprise were heard as the flesh
seemed to close and heal in front of them. After a bit, Shara leaned back. “He will survive. He’ll be weak for a few days, but the damage has been repaired.”

  For the next glass Shara moved between the wounded, finishing with I’Vorris himself when all of the others had been seen to.

  “You spoke the truth,” I’Vorris said examining his arm and the undamaged flesh where torn and mangled muscles had been a short time before. No pain from the injury remained. “I have never heard of such abilities before. Can you truly kill the beasts, the Hoplani I believe you called them?”

  “I will demonstrate in the morning,” Rigo replied. “You said a pair passed the other day. We should be able to find them easily enough and then you will see.”

  “Are there enough with powers such as yours to defeat them?”

  “Sadly no. We remain too few to deal with the numbers that are spawning and moving out of the Ruins. There is a way to prevent them from coming this way, but as yet we have been unable to move forward with that effort. That is why we need everyone to help. We need to be free to concentrate on that task or the Hoplani will win. It is important for you to return to Lopal and help guide your people. A new Lamane will be chosen soon. They must to be made aware of the danger and be prepared.”

  “I do not wish to become Lamane again. I have spent the last twenty years as leader, and while it offers wealth and respect, it also demands too much. I have enjoyed the freedom to follow my own path once again. Besides, I have come to see that there is little we could do against the beasts. How can I lead my people on a path destined to fail?”

  “You could provide guidance for whomever is selected,” Rigo argued. “Lopal must not choose a leader who believes the war can be continued. The wizards will not permit it and Lopal would suffer greatly. Besides, there is a way for your people to fight the beasts,” Rigo said, thinking of Ash’urn’s feat a few days earlier and what it promised if the skill could be passed to others.