He paused, then his eyebrows rose. “I’m making sure everyone’s memories of their instructions are as fresh as possible.”
“I know,” she replied. “And ensuring that you know exactly what everyone will do as well, if all goes to plan.”
“Trouble is, battles almost never go to plan.” His smile faded. “Hopefully only a few parts of the plan will change, not everything.”
“They’re not so rigid that we can’t adapt as we fight.”
“No.” His expression grew brighter again.
General Hapre approached, her expression taut and grim. “Everyone’s here and ready.”
Baluka looked at his family, Ulma and Rielle as he thought of all the things he’d like to say. Expressions of love and gratitude and warnings against doing anything foolish crossed his mind, but an expectant hush had settled over the room, and all needed his attention.
“It’s time,” he said, then turned and strode into the centre of the room.
The army quietened. As it did, Baluka turned full circle, acknowledging all who were present.
“Welcome,” he said, when the last voice faltered to silence. “And thank you.” He paused and nodded in approval and satisfaction, then straightened his back. “We are united here today to prevent the return of the Raen. But that is not all. By doing so, we will save both the worlds and an innocent young man.
“I have explained the situation to you already, but I will now summarise it to ensure there is no confusion.” He turned to the painting Rielle had made of Dahli. “This is our enemy: Dahli, formerly known as the Raen’s most loyal. He seeks to resurrect the Raen using this young man.” Baluka moved to Rielle’s painting of Qall dressed in Traveller garb. “Who, contrary to appearances, is not the Raen. He is an innocent young man who was abducted, whose memories were removed and body changed in readiness to receive the Raen’s mind. Rielle Lazuli rescued him, and he has been raised by Lejihk and Ankari of the Travellers. Though his memories did not return, he has become a new person. A good person. Recently, he was blackmailed into joining Dahli and, we fear, agreeing to become the vessel of the Raen’s memories. Blackmailed with the threat of killing all Travellers.”
Baluka paused to look around the room.
“We must prevent this.”
An anxious silence followed. Baluka took a deep breath before continuing.
“This is a smaller army than that which I led to face the Raen five cycles ago, but it is better prepared. We have General Rielle Lazuli with us, a sorcerer of near equal strength to the Raen.” Baluka gestured towards her. “We have the support of the Travellers.” He nodded towards Ulma and her companions. “And we have the support of many, many worlds, represented by all who are here, and all who have gathered magic for the cause.”
Baluka’s expression and tone hardened. “Dahli’s followers are of no small number, but they are spread thin in the worlds around his base. If we strike quickly and surprise them, we may make it through to him before those in the furthest worlds can reach us. Even if we do, however, it is likely they will join Dahli in facing us at his base, but perhaps by then the matter will be settled one way or the other.
“If we do not surprise them, we will likely have to defeat all of Dahli’s supporters before we can move on to his base. We have prepared for that eventuality too.
“Our generals, of which there is one in every group of ten, will transport you in. When approaching Dahli’s world, my group will travel in the centre and slightly above you, so you can all observe our signals and we can see our destination before we arrive. Before arriving, I will reposition us between you and the enemy. You know the signal to retreat.” He raised a hand, fingers spread, thumb tucked in. “General Rielle Lazuli will transport us away from the scene of battle if our strength is depleted, whether we must retreat or are victorious. Be ready to link with her if she calls out ‘join.’”
He dropped his arm. “Are there any questions?”
A different sort of silence followed as the fighters exchanged glances and looked around the room. Rielle focused on their thoughts. Some were wondering if they’d achieved agelessness only to die in battle soon after, but their determination strengthened once they considered what would happen if the Raen returned. She wasn’t surprised to find that many considered rescuing Qall to be secondary to preventing Valhan’s return. Some even thought that they would try to kill Qall if it looked like they would not win the battle. That sent a chill through her, and she took note of which fighters they were, reassuring herself that Dahli was more likely to fall before Qall did.
But then strength did not always dictate who won or lost, died or survived in magical battles.
“Then let us begin,” Baluka concluded. “Follow me.”
He turned and beckoned to Rielle and his parents. As they stepped forward to join him, General Hapre moved to Baluka’s side and the six of them grasped the hands of whoever stood beside them. The fighters formed tight groups of ten, all connected by linked hands. Baluka waited until everyone stood still and ready, then nodded to his parents.
“Breathe,” he murmured.
They did. Rielle hastily followed suit. It was so easy to forget she could no longer survive longer than a held breath between worlds. The room faded to white, but the fighters remained visible, appearing to float with no obvious ground beneath their feet.
The path Baluka chose was indirect, designed to approach Dahli’s world from a different direction than straight from the Restorers’ base. The need to pause long enough in each world to allow breathing time meant their journey seemed slow. The generals had considered splitting up and regrouping closer to Dahli’s world, but then each group would be weaker and more vulnerable to attack. They hadn’t forgotten the general Volk, or the hundreds of sorcerers who perished with him before they could join the last rebel attack on the Raen. More groups meant more chances that Dahli’s spies would notice one, and guess its purpose, too. If they travelled together as quickly as possible, they might get close to Dahli’s world before he was alerted.
The first sign that this last ploy might have failed came when they arrived in a near-drained world which had previously been full of power. Rielle could sense the unevenness of the remaining magic. The sorcerers who’d taken it had stripped it in great spheres, leaving patches of magic between. Baluka nodded to her, and she transported them to the next world. All of the fighters were able to follow, using their reserves of magic. Baluka paused to order one sorcerer of each group to shield their companions as soon as they arrived in each new world. He selected Rielle as the shielder of his group, before ordering the army to follow him into the place between again.
More newly drained worlds slowed their journey. In the fifth, the arrival place was nestled among huge, grass-like plants which gave Rielle the strange impression that she and the others had shrunk to the size of children’s toys. From between the enormous leaves came a magical attack—invisible concussions of stilled air bouncing off shields. Baluka did not order a counter-attack, instead telling Rielle to move them on, but slowly at first so he could make sure that all groups had been able to follow.
No shadows followed them, and all of the groups were present. They continued through several worlds unmolested. Then, with no indication as to why the attempts to slow them had stopped, they resumed. Every time they encountered a dead world, sorcerers attacked from concealed locations; in every instance, Baluka ignored the enemy and moved on.
It meant they were moving through fewer worlds with available magic, using up their reserves. Baluka now ordered Rielle to take charge of transportation for all, moving the army as quickly as she could towards Dahli’s world. The ambushes stopped. In a pause between worlds, Baluka muttered that the culprits were most likely gathering for a confrontation in the worlds around Dahli’s base.
“The chances were slim that we’d surprise them,” he said.
“Do you still wish to continue?” Lejihk asked.
Baluka nodded. “The
advantage we’ve lost is small. We’ve prepared for the possibility we would face all of Dahli’s forces.”
Rielle could see his disappointment fade under the force of his resolve, and was aware that all of the fighters would be reading it from him as well, and watching her and the Travellers for any sign of flagging confidence.
“We are three worlds from the dead ones,” Rielle told him.
“Get us into the first dead world, then we’ll travel separately again. Let’s go.”
He drew in a deep breath. The others followed suit. Pushing out of the world, Rielle travelled quickly. Though she shielded as soon as they arrived in the next world, no attack came. Nor were they ambushed in the following. The third had been recently emptied of magic—and more thoroughly than the previous drainings. Dahli had widened his defences, she guessed. A city was visible in the distance. Rielle wondered how the people there were reacting to the sudden magical death of their world.
I could restore it for them, but will I get the chance?
She looked at Baluka. “On to the last world then?”
He nodded. “On to the battle.”
She pushed out of the world. After glancing around to make sure all of the groups were following, she continued on.
Past the midpoint where everything was white but for the sorcerers.
Into the darkening shadows of a battleground of Dahli’s choosing.
Which was a grey and black battleground of smoke and ash. Whatever had surrounded the arrival site had been burned to the ground. And in its place stood rings of men and women.
They were arriving in the middle of Dahli’s army.
TYEN
The hall had been emptied of all furniture except four chairs. Tyen and Qall occupied two of them. Dahli and Zeke stood at the corner of the square outlined by the lamps, receiving and sending a steady stream of messengers. This was keeping them constantly distracted and out of earshot.
Now is the time, Tyen thought. Turning to Qall, he opened his mouth to speak, trusting that the young man would distort the sound of their voices as he had done before.
“Yes, I have shielded us. No, I’m not going to destroy the hand,” the young man said, meeting Tyen’s gaze.
“But if you do, Dahli has no reason to blackmail you.”
“And every reason to carry out his threat to kill all of the Travellers.”
Tyen bit his lip. “Then let me destroy it.”
“I doubt he’d see any difference in me doing it or letting you do it.”
He was right, of course.
“Besides, destroying it would mean we’d lose more than a millennia’s accumulated knowledge,” Qall continued. “I would have thought you would appreciate its value.”
Tyen frowned. “Because of Vella?”
Qall’s gaze lowered to Tyen’s chest. “And because you’re an academic. You would lament the loss of knowledge whether you needed it for Vella or not. Who is another source of knowledge. How would you feel if I asked you to destroy Vella?”
“That’s different. Vella is a person.”
“Not a whole person,” Qall pointed out.
Tyen could not help scowling at that. “She is more of a person than that hand is.”
The young man’s shoulder’s lifted and fell. “That is true.” His gaze lifted to meet Tyen’s again. “Could you ask her a question for me?”
Surprised, Tyen placed a hand on his chest, against the firmness of the pouch. “Now?”
Qall nodded. “It is relevant to our current situation.”
A glance in Dahli’s direction told Tyen that the man was still well occupied instructing the men and women who kept appearing and disappearing before him. He took the strap of the pouch and lifted it out from under his shirt. Taking Vella out, he turned his chair so that she was not in Dahli’s line of sight, but Qall could see her pages.
Her cover was warm. The leather was soft and fragile, the pages thin. As the book opened, delicate words appeared.
Hello, Qall. What would you like to know?
Tyen looked at the young man, seeking a sign of understanding that this was more than just a book. That it was a person. A woman, unfairly trapped. And that Tyen’s efforts to free her were justified.
Qall stared at the words in fascination.
“If I imprint the memories in Valhan’s hand on my mind, will they overwhelm my own?” the young man asked quietly.
I do not have enough information to answer that question, she replied. However, I can tell you that everything a person knows is part of who they are. Absorbing the memories will change you, whether they replace yours or not.
Qall nodded. “But we all change as we grow and learn and experience the world. How is that different?”
Who we already are shapes how we change. What we learn and experience is filtered by the morals and values we have learned and hold to. Another person’s memories would be filtered by who they were at the time, and then again each time they recall and think about them. They may clash with your morals and values, causing distress.
“Turn the page,” Qall murmured.
Tyen blinked in surprise; then, hearing approaching steps, did as instructed. He glanced over his shoulder to see Dahli approaching.
“No,” Qall murmured as Tyen went to close Vella. “He knows you have her. I have more questions.”
Reluctantly, Tyen left Vella open.
“How could Rielle have escaped the world I left her in?” Qall asked.
Someone may have rescued her.
“But nobody knew where she was.”
“She may have been helped by sorcerers rescuing other stranded otherworlders,” Dahli said from behind Tyen’s chair.
“Could that world have recovered in such a short time?” Qall asked.
It is unlikely.
“Unlikely is not the same thing as impossible,” Qall pointed out. “How could it happen?”
If the world contained many Makers, and all of them worked without pause but to sleep and eat.
“Rielle was a powerful Maker,” Dahli said. “Until she became ageless. It is possible she regained that ability.”
Tyen’s skin prickled as he read Vella’s reply.
Yes, but she would no longer be ageless. Though there is a prophecy that warns of such an occurrence, claiming that if a Maker became ageless it would lead to the worlds being torn asunder.
Dahli made a low noise. “What does this prophecy say exactly?”
I do not contain that information. The person I learned about it from only knew as much as I have told you.
“Prophecies are propaganda and nonsense.” Dahli shook his head and walked away. Looking up at Qall, Tyen noted how the young man was frowning at the older sorcerer.
“He’s blocking his memory of that,” he said, his eyebrows rising. “He doesn’t want to be influenced by it.”
Tyen turned his attention to the retreating man, but Dahli had finished and was meeting another messenger. Qall’s fingers drummed on the lid of the box, reminding Tyen once again that the object so many people would like to destroy lay within it, then leaned over to stare at Vella gain.
“Vella. Do you want to be restored to a living body?”
I neither want to nor do not want to. I cannot feel desire or other emotions.
“But you know what was done to you was wrong,” Tyen reminded her.
Indeed.
“If you became a living person again, you would be able to feel emotions,” Qall pointed out. “You may then regret becoming human, especially if you felt what was done to achieve it was wrong.”
That is possible.
“Is Tyen in love with you?”
Tyen drew a breath to object.
No.
“Was he ever in love with you?”
Yes, though not in a physical way. It is not uncommon with my owners.
“What changed?”
“Qall!” Tyen protested. “This is none of your—”
He met Rielle.
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All the breath went out of Tyen. He stared at Rielle’s name, written so elegantly on the page. It is true, he thought. I do love her. I knew I cared what happened to her, but I wasn’t sure if I actually loved her. I didn’t dare ask myself. I didn’t want the answer to be “yes.” After all, she left and took herself far away. And now I can’t see any way I won’t lose her. Either I abandon Qall to save her and she hates me, or she dies.
“You can put Vella away now,” Qall said.
As Tyen did, the young man watched him thoughtfully. “It is fascinating watching you communicate with Vella,” he said. “It is like you’re talking to yourself.”
Tyen frowned. “What do you mean?”
“She uses your mind to be conscious. Her responses, if they do not contain information she has stored, are the creation of your own mind. When you talk to her, it’s usually in order to help you think through something, right?”
“Some of the time,” Tyen admitted, not sure why this made him feel uncomfortable.
“I’m not saying there is nothing left of the person she was,” Qall assured him. “What survives of her is as permanent as the knowledge she gathers. Her memories, personality and knowledge of right and wrong are unchangeable.” His lips twisted into a brief, wry smile. “In this state, she could never be imprinted with Valhan’s personality by absorbing his memories. If you were to place those unchangeable parts of her within a new mind, or a sufficiently complex mechanical one, she would change. Just as she believes me absorbing Valhan’s memories would alter me, so her transformation would make her a different person, even to who she was originally.”
Tyen stared at Qall. “Then her warning to you applies to her as well.”
Qall nodded.
Would I lose the Vella I know? Tyen wondered. Is it worth giving her a body if it destroys the person I like and admire? But surely it is selfish of me to want her to stay the same for fear of losing her?
He looked down at her cover and realised that what he had promised her might achieve the opposite to what he intended. It could free the remnants of the woman, only to destroy them.
Was this what Valhan had meant when he said that the process of placing Vella in a body would destroy her?
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