Fires of Memory

by Washburn, Scott;

  “Why won’t they help, sir?” asked Matt. The Eparans had some of the best infantry in the east. And the fact that they were a bit behind the times and still had some pikes mixed in with the musketeers would be an actual bonus in the current crisis.

  “It’s their bloody feud with Durace. They won’t put it aside, even for this.”

  “Don’t they realize that the Kaifeng will eventually get to them if we don’t stop them?”

  “Oh, they realize it. Frankly, I think the bastards are counting on it. They’ve started a massive fortress building program in the passes through the mountains along their border. I think they’re hoping the Kaifs will wipe out the Duracci, but somehow leave them alone. Damn fools. But, be that as it may, we have troops coming from almost everywhere else. Or we will have when the weather turns.

  “The largest single contingent will be Hegurian, of course. They are closest to Berssia and will be the first in their path come spring. They’ve promised forty thousand regulars and ten thousand militia. They’re not the best troops, but their numbers will be useful. Durace is sending fifteen thousand, Laponia another ten. We’ll have a solid core of twenty thousand of our own Zollerhans, probably another twenty from all the smaller kingdoms and duchies. There will even be about ten thousand from the cities in Ertria, although only the gods know how much use they’ll be.”

  “What about the remains of the Berssian Army, sir?” asked Matt. He felt a little awkward asking questions that he was sure were dealt with weeks ago, but he had a lot to catch up on.

  “Well, that forty thousand figure I gave for Heguria includes most of the Berssians who escaped east after the disaster at Berssenburg. As for the king and his southern army, I’m afraid we can’t count on them in the spring. After he escaped from the city, the king went south to where his army was fighting the Omaki. The last word we had tells us that he’s concluded some sort of truce with the sultan, but basically he’s stuck down there for now.”

  “I see, sir,” said Matt, somewhat relieved that he would not encounter his theoretical master any time soon.

  “So, all told, we are looking at around a hundred and twenty-five thousand troops,” continued DeSlitz. “While on the one hand, this is very good news—we should be able to meet the Kaifs with something approaching equal numbers—it also creates some major problems. Our army will be twice the size of anything ever seen before. Controlling it, coordinating our movements, and above all, supplying it will be enormous tasks. The planned rendezvous is in Heguria, naturally, but it is up to us to see that it all works. Now, I have assignments for each of you…”

  For the next two hours, the discussion went around the room as the general received reports and handed out work. Matt was impressed. The Zollerhans were also reputed to have the best-organized army in the east, and he could believe it. Finally, the meeting seemed to be winding down, and Matt took the opportunity to raise another issue.

  “Sir?” said Matt. “There is one other thing the wizards are going to need.”

  “What?”

  “Some privacy, sir. Ever since they arrived, they have been dragged off to one dinner or ball after another. Everyone wants to meet them and rub elbows with them. They are being run ragged. And it is worst of all with Mistress Idira. Anyone with a cough or a hangnail is coming to her to heal them. She’s a kindly woman and cannot bring herself to turn them away.” Matt paused and frowned. “And unfortunately, not all of the people hanging about are admirers and well-wishers. There seems to be a faction of churchmen who are not at all happy with the wizards being here.”

  “I know,” said DeSlitz, shaking his head. “Their bloody Council of Purity has been bending my ear, insisting we should not be using the wizards at all. Spouting nonsense about us all damning ourselves by dealing with heretics. I just told them that if they can whistle up a hundred thousand armored knights to face the Kaifs, I’d be happy to dispense with the wizards. You say they’ve been causing more trouble?”

  “Some, sir. A few small crowds have gathered from time to time to denounce the wizards. I’ve seen churchmen among them. So far it has not been serious, but that could change. We need to set up a picket line to keep the mobs at a distance.”

  “All right, I can see we need to deal with this. Very well, Colonel, you are already the official liaison to the wizards, you are now also in charge of their security. Put together a body of troops to act as their guard. Once they relocate to outside the city, it won’t be so bad, but they will still need a guard in any case.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Matt. “But, sir, I was hoping for a combat command in the coming campaign. I have some scores to settle with the Kaifs, sir.”

  “No doubt, no doubt. But, Colonel, if you want to have a combat command, then make one! I’m authorizing you to create a Wizards’ Guard. I didn’t say a word about how large it should be. I leave that entirely up to you.”

  Matt felt a large grin forming on his face in spite of his efforts to stop it.

  “Yes, sir. I’ll get right on it.”

  * * * * *

  “Jarren?” said Idira, “Hess asked me to come and get you. He says he’s got something to show you.”

  “Really? What?” asked Jarren, looking up from his book.

  “He didn’t say, but I think he’s got the Seekers working.”

  “Wonderful!” said Jarren, springing to his feet. “Let’s go!”

  He carefully marked his place in the book and then followed the healer out of the room he was using as his study. The estate Colonel Krasner had secured for their use was large and luxurious, if a little run-down. It was on a good-sized bit of dry land a dozen miles south of Zamerdan. The spare rooms and corridors were packed with crates full of books and scrolls from the university. He was amazed at the resources he now seemed to have at his command. Anything he asked for arrived in short order. Well, as short as possible. There were many more books and scrolls on their way from other cities that had not arrived yet. But he did have a dozen eager graduate students poring through what was on hand, looking for any reference to the Seekers or gunpowder.

  They went down a set of steps, through a long hall, and out the back door of the sprawling building. It wasn’t quite a palace, but almost. It had a number of outbuildings, too, and Hesseran had set up his workshop in one of them. As he followed the tramped-down path through the snow, he noticed that Colonel Krasner was out drilling his troops again. It seemed as though there were more of them every day. He guessed there were at least two hundred cavalrymen churning up the fields in precise patterns. A bugle call rang out and the horsemen wheeled around and headed off in a new direction. Jarren shrugged his shoulders and kept walking. It was cold and the thrill of seeing snow had worn off quickly. He was looking forward to spring—or at least he would have been, except that this spring would mean war.

  He glanced around and then back at Idira. “Where’s Thad today?”

  “In the city. He said he has to give a report to the patriarch on what we’re doing here.”

  “Well, I’m sure he’ll make a very favorable report. He’s incredibly impressed with what you can do.”

  “Yes, he’s a good man, and he’s not terribly comfortable spying on us. He’s every bit as dedicated to healing as I am—more, since he comes from a place where the sick and injured are a lot more common. He’s seen all the suffering close up.”

  “It must be a bit frustrating for him to see your powers and know he can never do the things you do.”

  “Actually, he could do them if he had the training.”

  Jarren’s head snapped around to stare at the woman. He stopped in his tracks. “You mean he has the power?” he asked incredulously.

  “Yes, but please don’t say anything to him. He’d be terribly distraught if he knew. I should not have said anything to you, Jarren, but I’m terrible at keeping secrets.”

  “That…that’s amazing. I had heard that this ‘Council of Purity’ goes around screening all of the acolytes when they
are young to make sure no ‘heretics’ get in.”

  Idira laughed without humor. “I did a little investigation about that. Apparently the Council goes around with some old magical staff and tests the acolytes. They hold it, and if it glows, the person has the power—and they burn the poor wretch. But no heretics have been found for over seventy years. You realize what that means?”

  “Uh, that the people with the power are staying away from the church?”

  “No! It means that their bloody staff probably burned out seventy years ago and those dolts don’t realize it! They’ve been letting heretics into the church for seventy years.” Idira grinned like it was a huge joke.

  “Heavens! I don’t think you should tell anyone about that, either, Idira.”

  “You have got that right!”

  “But Thad has the power?”

  “Yes. Not strongly. It would probably never manifest itself without some training, but he could do the healing spells.”

  “Interesting. Uh, I don’t suppose that I…?”

  “No, I’m afraid not, Jarren.”

  “Oh well.” He wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or not. He resumed walking.

  They reached Hesseran’s workshop and opened the door—and retreated in alarm when a cloud of white smoke came billowing out. Hesseran himself followed a moment later, coughing and wiping his streaming eyes.

  “Hess!” cried Idira. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, yes, I’m fine,” wheezed the alchemist. “Excellent, actually.”

  “What happened?” asked Jarren.

  “Well, I managed to recreate the spell the Kaifeng necromancer must be using—and I’m going to need some more gunpowder.”

  “How much did you have in there?”

  “Oh, a pound or so.”

  “And it all went up?”

  “I’m afraid so, well, nearly. I had a small amount in a bowl and the rest in a cloth bag. I created the Seeker, just one, you know, and I expected it to go after what was in the bowl, being so much closer, but it went after the sack instead! Fortunately it was not tightly packed, so it just flashed rather than exploded.”

  “You are going to have to be more careful, Hess!” cried Idira. “Are you sure you’re not burned or hurt?”

  “No, I’m fine. But come in, I still have the little bit in the bowl. I can show you what I did.”

  “Perhaps we should call Colonel Krasner over and have him watch, too. He can tell us how it compares with what he saw in the field.”

  “An excellent idea!” A servant was quickly sent slogging across the field to summon the colonel. Another was sent toward the distant shed where a supply of gunpowder was kept. Meanwhile, Jarren, Idira, and Hesseran opened all the windows in the workshop to let the smoke out. Jarren could see the charred spot on a table where the gunpowder had been.

  “Interesting that the Seeker went after the larger amount of powder,” said Jarren. “Do you suppose it will always do that? Maybe we could decoy the seekers with some large amounts out in front of the army.”

  “A possibility,” said Hesseran. “But this time, I’m going to make two Seekers and see if we can do something like that.”

  They waited, and after a while, Krasner came in, his boots splattered with mud to the knees. “What did you want me for?” he asked. “Aside from showing me how you almost burned the building down, I mean.”

  “An unfortunate accident, Colonel,” said Hesseran, blushing, “but I’m sure you’ll find this interesting—ah, here’s the powder!” The servant arrived, out of breath, with another bag of gunpowder. Hesseran took it eagerly. “All right, I’m going to divide this up into a number of smaller portions of different sizes and see how the Seekers respond.” The alchemist got out a number of pottery bowls and set them around the room. He then measured out differing amounts, carefully recording just how much gunpowder went into each.

  “Do you think they might go after even individual grains of powder?” asked Jarren.

  “An interesting question. I’ll spread the last of this out on the table there.” He shook out the bag so there was a scattering of individual grains on the wood tabletop. Then he stood back. “Where’s Lyni? She needs to learn this, too.”

  “I saw her out walking,” said Idira. “Leave her be, Hess, she still is in a lot of pain and needs time.”

  “We haven’t got much time, Idira,” said Krasner. The healer frowned at him and he subsided.

  “All right, then,” said Hesseran. “Let me show you what I’ve come up with. Idira, watch how I substitute fire for wind.” The man stepped back and closed his eyes for a moment, and Jarren could hear him whispering something under his breath. He glanced over to Idira and could see that she was watching intently. Could she actually ‘see’ Hesseran manipulating the power? After a few moments, a tiny speck of glowing light appeared in front of the alchemist Jarren heard a sudden intake of breath from Colonel Krasner. The glow brightened and solidified in the air. It just hovered there for a moment, then it split into two glowing points of light. The lights floated in the air for one more heartbeat and then darted away. They zipped past the scattered grains of powder and each darted into a different bowl. Instantly, there was a red flash and a whoosh and a gush of white smoke that rushed up to the ceiling and then spread out through the room.

  They all retreated outside while the smoke cleared. “When the weather gets warmer, I think I’ll be doing these experiments outdoors,” said Hesseran. “Well, Colonel, did that look like what you saw the Kaifeng do?”

  “Yes. Exactly,” said Krasner and Jarren could see the grim look on his face. “The only difference was that the first time I noticed a bit of red smoke go up as the gold ball was forming.”

  “Ah, yes, you had mentioned that. There are several ways to tell a Seeker what to seek. One way is to give them a ‘sniff’ of what they are supposed to look for. It is the simplest way, but not necessarily the best. I made their goal part of the very spell, so I did not need to burn the gunpowder as the Kaifeng apparently did. Perhaps we can take some comfort that our magic is more sophisticated—if less powerful.”

  “I did see how you substituted the fire, Hess,” said Idira. “Very clever.”

  “Do you think you can do it?”

  “Let’s find out.”

  They went back into the workshop, and Hesseran examined the bowls and frowned. “Odd, they ignored the individual grains, as we expected, but while the one Seeker did go after the largest amount, the other went after the bowl with only the sixth largest amount. I’m not sure what—if anything—that proves.”

  “We’ll have to study this further,” said Idira. “Here, let me try.”

  Idira concentrated, and in short order, had created a single golden Seeker. It zipped off to ignite a bowl of powder.

  “Hmmm, it chose the third largest amount of powder,” said Hesseran, and he squinted through the smoke. “No discernible pattern yet. Let me try with three this time.”

  Without waiting for the smoke to clear, Hesseran created three of the Seekers and they quickly found their goals. Three more bowls whooshed into flames. The smoke was quite thick in spite of the open windows and the chill breeze they let in. Idira and Hesseran took turns casting the spell until only a single bowl of gunpowder remained.

  “All right, I am going to create two Seekers this time,” said the alchemist. “Let’s see if both of them go for the one remaining bowl, or if one of them can be tempted to go after the individual grains.”

  Hesseran stood back and quickly created two of the Seekers. It seemed to Jarren that it was easier and quicker each time they did it. The Seekers hovered for an instant and then both darted into the remaining bowl. It ignited immediately, but to Jarren’s surprise, one of the Seekers remained, flitting about in the cloud of smoke. It circled the room, ignoring the gunpowder on the table.

  “Apparently it cannot find anything that small,” said Hesseran. “Interesting. Perhaps we can…”

  The Seeker dar
ted out the window.

  “Where’s it going?” cried Jarren.

  They scrambled out of the building and looked around.

  “There it is!” shouted Krasner. They all looked and there it was: a golden point of light flying across the snow-covered field with great speed. It zipped past the colonel’s startled troopers and into a small clump of woods.

  “What’s it doing?” demanded Jarren. “There’s nothing out there except…”

  Booom! A small explosion rumbled in the distance and a large white cloud boiled up out of the trees.

  “The shed where we store the gunpowder,” said Colonel Krasner.

  All eyes turned to Hesseran.

  “Oh, dear,” said the alchemist.

  * * * * *

  Kareen lay back in the pool of hot water and closed her eyes. It felt so good! The Royal Baths in the palace had survived almost intact, and after the Kaifeng had learned what they were and how they worked, they had ordered their slaves to keep them in operation continuously. Most of the time, they were reserved for the masters, but there were times when the slaves could use them, too. She lay there and let the heat soak into her bones and drive out the chill. The winter was passing and they had had some warmer weather, but the nights were still very cold. She sighed contentedly and tried to forget about everything.

  For a few minutes, she succeeded.

  Unfortunately, after a while, her worries began to intrude. She could take some comfort in the fact that they were simply worries rather than the agonizing fears that had filled her during her first months as a slave. It still amazed her, but her fate, which had seemed too terrible to endure at first, was now almost normal. She had her chores to do and her daily routines, which filled most of her life. She even had things that she enjoyed. She was learning to cook and sew very well and could take satisfaction in some of her accomplishments. She even had fun. Thelena had been teaching her how to ride properly. Before, she could bounce along on a horse without falling off, but now she was actually learning how to ride, and it was fun. She and Thelena had fun together. She wished Thelena was here with her now, but she was off with Atark somewhere.