Bannor calmed his heart and breathing and felt.
Vibrations.
People were moving around. Of course, that was to be expected. There were probably two or three valkyries or Kriar doing guard duty. Both had dense bodies and made heavy footfalls. The vibration seemed excessive to be only two or three.
He rose and jogged toward the main hall. As he moved he cast his thread sense ahead. It took only a few heartbeats to locate what must be the guards; two Kriar and two valkyries. They were spread out covering the main paths into the domiciles where the rest of the defense force were sleeping. That’s where they were supposed to be.
While he couldn’t be positive, those vibrations had seemed to originate more south and east, well away from those defenders. Stopping at an intersection, he loosened up his sensitivity and cast about for any threads that didn’t belong.
Nothing.
He dropped to all fours and pressed his ear to the stone. The vibration was distinct. There were several creatures moving around and their threads were completely hidden from him.
Bannor looked around the deserted hallway. Oil lamps, their wicks near to expiring, sputtered and danced in their sconces, casting wavering shadows on the smooth stone of the passage. He sniffed at the air, detecting the faint odor of weapon oil and perspiration.
Pushing to his feet, Bannor pulled out his axes and spun them to get them loose in his grip. He rolled his shoulders and limbered his arms as he stalked forward. How had the Baronians gotten so many through the shield? Already they had improved their stealth that their movement didn’t leave a discernable trail.
He would discover the extent of this latest invasion and then alert the defenders.
Nearing the main hall he paused at a corner and felt for vibrations.
Strange, the emanation really hadn’t moved much, and the group had only spread out a little. What kind of tactic was that? He couldn’t feel their threads but the residual energy in the citadel had increased by a massive amount. Whatever this was, it had incredible magic.
Bannor pushed into his senses, willing more energy into his body. He felt Eternity’s energies crackling around this skin. With creatures this powerful, he might have to scream for help sooner than he thought.
Padding up the passage he stopped at an intersection. They were close now, more than a score of them—every damn one of them concealed so effectively he might as well not have his nola senses. He peeked down into main hall. Most of his view was blocked by columns and furniture. What little of the chamber he could see through the narrow openings were devoid of movement.
He drew a breath and spun his axes. This was not good. With radiations this strong, there must be more than a dozen elite. With a group this powerful, it might do more harm than good to sound a general alert and have the defenders run out into the maw of a meat grinder unprepared. He needed to assess the opposition then direct a focused and organized attack.
Bannor slipped forward across the intersection, at the far side he looked back toward the main hall. He could feel everything except the creatures themselves. Crouching down, back against the corner, he listened.
He heard a quiet mumbling, but the few sounds he heard didn’t sound like language. His listened to the telepathic channels Sindra had taught him. He detected a great deal of discourse, but even that was being masked.
He peeked down the hall toward the sounds, and grumbled a silent curse. This field of view yielded no more information than the other side of the passage. He would have to take the hall around to the northern entrance and try to get a view from there.
Pushing to his feet he slipped up the northern servant’s passage. He froze at a sputtering sound. Heart beating fast, he looked up and realized it was simply a lamp expending the last of its wick. Damn.
Leaning forward, he continued. As he approached a corner, a shadow outlined on the wall made him lurch back. He cast around for a panicked instant and leaped into the cover of an alcove.
Heart beating fast he squeezed himself into the crotch of the two walls. The notch afforded him deep shadow from the narrow passage, but wasn’t deep enough to hide him from direct observation.
A presence paused only a few paces away. He felt a strong mind probing the darkness—listening. Had it detected him? The figure moved closer. An eerie quiet pervaded the hall, no footfalls, no breathing. Further away, he continued to hear the mumbles of the group in the main hall.
The presence slipped closer. At the very fringe of his hearing was a tiny hissing. He tightened his grip on his axes.
He dove deep into his nola, he needed a thread to grab hold of. He could only curse in silence. His nola senses revealed nothing but an empty hall.
His heart skipped to a faster tempo as the minute hissing stopped. Leather creaked. He held his breath. He wiggled his fingers to loosen the tension on his axes.
The figure in the passage which had been shifting forward stopped.
Spit. Had he made a noise? He would have sworn he hadn’t. Did it hear his fingers move?
The entity took a step, then another. A silhouette appeared in his view. The creature wore layers of black that blended with the shadows. From the shape that passed his alcove, it was a tall humanoid wearing a cloak with the hood up. Whatever this thing was, it had keen hearing.
He stayed frozen until the creature passed out of his view. Listening intently he waited until the intruder moved on. He moved from his hiding spot, checking the shadows to make sure the entity had continued out of earshot.
Hugging the wall, he slipped toward the northern passage. He glanced back down the dark passage, probing the shadows for signs of movement. He hated leaving a potential opponent at his back. If all their enemies were that alert, the tiniest sound would give him away before he could gather any information on what they were facing.
He peeked around the corner and found the passage empty. He probed the flickering shadows for movement and saw nothing. The intersection that would give him a critical view lay only a dozen steps away.
He glanced back behind him again, then slipped forward. He froze when it felt like something was staring at him. Something whistled at his back. He spun around the attack, grabbing and throwing. The person grunted and flipped.
Bannor sent a punch shrieking forward. At the same time, the figure twisted. He saw a glint of blonde hair and blue eyes. He hauled back on his punch at the precise instant a heel halted hairs from the bridge of his nose.
“Bannor?” The voice thrummed with the familiar echoing tone of a female ascendant. She dropped her foot back.
All he could think at that moment was how much that would have hurt. “Wren? You scared the spit out of me.”
The blonde savant pulled her hood back. It was indeed his savant friend.
He let out a breath. “Damn, I’m not used to you being so tall. I couldn’t feel anything from you. I thought you were a Baronian using the new stealth.”
“Oh spit,” Wren said slapping her thighs. She came and gave him a firm hug. “I apologize. I forgot, Daena stealthed us all to keep the Baronians and Daergons from detecting us.”
He blinked as she stepped back. He was still adjusting to this magnified version of Wren, with that powerful physique and flowing gold-blonde hair. That kick came around so fast. No way could he have avoided it if she hadn’t stopped.
“Did something happen? Why are you all back here?”
“Strategic withdrawal.” Wren said. “Marna and the others will explain it.”
They started to walk back and Wren stumbled. He caught her arm. “Hey.”
She put a hand to her head. “Whoa. Dizzy.”
“You need sleep,” he said putting an arm around her waist and holding her up. “I was getting those spells too. It comes on sudden, you don’t get tired, you just fall down.”
She drew a breath. “Yeah.”
They walked back to the main chamber. The whole rest of the assault team including Quasar were sitting on the petitioner’s couche
s. They all looked exhausted, including the ascendants. He noticed that in their retreat they had brought a bunch of hardware with them, including the six cylinders containing the bodies of the savants who had spirit merged with their ascendant bodies. There was a seventh cylinder that he guessed contained the imprisoned Baronian commander.
As he entered, the members of the assault team rose to greet him. He noticed Quasar and Eclipse standing close to one another. Had something happened between those two? A reconciliation? He hoped so, that couldn’t help but mellow the ancient Kriar’s self-destructive urges.
Marna and her daughter stood shoulder to shoulder now wearing matching blue battle armor, their long hair braided in the same style. Both were looking at something on the side of one of cases and appeared to be conferring. When they stood close like now, the family resemblance was strong. Dulcere was taller and leaner, with the hardened physique one expected of a warrior. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but the case they were looking at was the one with his body in it. He felt an icy tremor of unease.
Euriel, with her husband Vanidaar now towering over her, came forward seeing that he was assisting Wren along. Wren’s brother Azir reached them first and put an arm around her.
A concerned expression on his face, the ascendant of light studied the blonde savant with glowing white eyes. “What happened, Sis?”
She put an arm around his neck. “Just a little dizzy,” she blinked and drew a breath. “I’m already starting to feel better.”
“You look well, Bannor,” Euriel remarked. “According to Daena, things have been rough.”
“It wasn’t easy to be sure,” he answered. “Leaving those fruits for Tymoril and Kegari was huge, they thrashed more than a dozen of those dreads. The Baronians weren’t prepared for that. The rest was tactics, valkyries, Kriar, Shael Dal and the Felspars working together in teams.”
“I am gratified that my plan was so successful,” Idun said strolling up to put an arm around her daughter Euriel. The pantheon lady glowed, her gold hair shimmering and sparkling. “Though the threat posed to everyone is burdensome, I have much enjoyed the opportunity for a little rough and tumble. I so rarely get to cut loose.”
Loric rose from the couches and joined Aarlen as the two elders added themselves to the growing conference circle.
“I know it will be something of an imposition,” the gray-haired man said. “Do you think you could rouse someone so we can get some rooms? We didn’t want to wander around and cause a ruckus.”
“Actually, there’s a bunch of rooms on the west side where Sarai and I are staying. You’ll probably want to be down with your family though, I can get one of the sentries to lead you back there.”
“Very good,” Loric said with a nod.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Daena rise from the couches and come toward him. The girl was glowing, her auburn hair seeming to float around her like a nimbus. He felt a catch in his chest that hurt so much it made him tremble. Damn, she was beautiful.
She came around behind him and pulled him away from Wren. “Bannor,” she said, putting her arms around him in a hug.
He clutched her tight to him, and sniffed her hair. The smell of her alone made his heart skip a beat. He swallowed hard, and with effort managed to push back. “Good—” His voice cracked. “Good to see you, Daena. Missed you.”
The girl studied him with glowing green eyes. She touched his cheek. “I missed you too.”
Bannor reached up to caress her hand and forced himself to stop. What was the matter with him? He willed himself to take a step back and after a moment managed to do so.
Wren raised an eyebrow and looked between them. “Dane?”
Daena smiled at her. “Yes?” Her gaze went back to him. Those green eyes seemed to pull on him.
He drew a breath, feeling himself tremble.
The blonde savant focused on him and her brow furrowed. “You okay?”
He shook his head, and rubbed the side of his face. The terrible pull relented. “I—I guess.”
“Hi,” Ziedra said floating over. The dark-haired ascendant peered into his eyes. “So, how long before we can get to these rooms you’re talking about?”
“I can take you—” His knees went rubbery, his view of the room turned fuzzy and he found himself sinking down. “Uhhh…”
Daena, Ziedra, and Wren caught his shoulders as he dropped to his knees.
“Bannor!?”
“Whoa.” The room did a slow roll. “Ugh.”
“What’s the matter?” Daena asked shaking his shoulder.
“Dizzy,” he muttered rubbing his face.
“Daena, let me see,” Marna said, stepping into his view and kneeling down.
The Kriar Vatraena put the back of her hand against his cheek. “You’re cold.” She touched his throat and looked around to either side of his face. He felt a tingling as her glowing eyes seemed to dig into him. “What’s happening?”
“Everything—went—fuzzy,” he reported. “Couldn’t hold myself—up.”
The Kriar woman frowned. “Is this the first time?”
“No.” He took a deep breath, feeling some of his strength return. “Second—time.”
Marna looked up to Wren. “I saw you leaning on him—did something like this just happen to you?”
“Yes,” Wren admitted. “Out in the hall. It hit me fast, no warning. Like all my strength just vanished.”
The Vatraena’s eyes widened, she looked around to the other ascendants. “Anyone else have this happen?”
“Actually, I did get dizzy a few bells ago,” Ziedra said with a nod. “I thought it was just backlash from all the casting I’d been doing.”
The Kriar female pushed to a stand. “I apologize. This was unforeseen. So have all of you experienced this?”
“I did have a couple spells where I needed to sit down and regroup,” Damay said gliding over to them. “It did not seem related to fatigue. I assumed it was just power backlash.”
“Same for me,” Azir said rubbing the back of his head. “Weird, it didn’t happen when we were fighting or under pressure. What about you, Dad?”
Vanidaar rubbed at the corner of his mouth. “I confess I did have a similar bout of weakness, but we weren’t doing anything, so I assumed it was just stress from our vigil.”
“It’s probably related to their taos trying to bind with these bodies,” Loric speculated. “You did put some kind of inhibitor in them so that permanent attachment wouldn’t occur?”
“Yes.” Marna touched Bannor on the shoulder and then Ziedra and Wren, looking at each of them intently. “These bodies are experimental. I took precautions to make sure that a permanent bond would not occur, I recall the difficult time Wren had when in Euriel’s body.”
“Oh—uhhh—yeah,” Wren glanced at her mother and colored a little. The memory obviously was of some embarrassment to her. In Euriel’s body? Someday he’d have to hear that whole tale. Up until now, he’d only heard snippets of it. The blonde ascendant seemed eager to change the subject. “Dane,” she said turning. “You don’t get dizzy spells, do you?”
“No,” the auburn haired girl said with a shake of her head. “In fact, since I was changed I have felt tired like three times. Once was right after I changed. I went to sleep and have barely needed to sleep since…” She shrugged. “The other two times I had my wheat thrashed bad.”
Bannor drew another breath, and blinked. His view of the room cleared and he felt the weakness fade. He put a foot under himself and started to push back to his feet.
“Whoa,” Ziedra advised. “Slow.”
He nodded and let them assist as he stood. A few more breaths and his legs firmed.
“Marna,” Wren said. “I think it has to do with a kind of settling in. That time when I was in my mother’s body, I was adjusting that whole time. Same when I was in Desiray. If you’ve blocked that natural acclimation, it probably confuses our tao forms.”
He rubbed his chest and straighte
ned. “Ah. Better, that is so strange. Glad that hasn’t happened in a battle.”
“This concerns me,” Marna said. “As you say, if it happened during a fight it would be very bad. Nobody has felt weak during the battles, though?”
The ascendants all looked at one another and shook their heads.
“I fear Wren is correct,” the Vatraena said with a frown. “The locks on your bodies are more than to prevent binding, it’s to keep them from being copied or having their characteristics altered.
However, your tao spirits appear to be trying to force changes in your bodies. I believe it is as Wren surmises, that when the change is blocked you experience weakness.”
“Well, whatever you did,” Ziedra said. “I love it. A little dizziness once and while I can live with.” She rocked side-to-side and looked over toward her husband Radian. “Rad likes it too.”
“She’s always in a good mood,” the gold man said with a grin. “What’s not to like?”
“Bannor?” a bleary voice asked.
He looked over to see Sarai stumble in from the side entrance her silvery hair tousled. She wore only the thin body stocking and carried the shaladen in its sheath.
Wren leaned to one side. “Whoa. Sarai, nice… ummm, upgrade.”
Sarai looked around and rubbed her eyes. “What—what are you all doing here?”
“Regrouping,” Marna said.
His wife-to-be came and leaned on him. She looked Wren up and down. “You should talk about upgrades. What’s with being so tall? Tired—” She yawned. “Tired of being short?”
Wren gestured to Marna. “She just said, ‘here’s a body, get in’.” She shrugged. “So I did.”
“We were just discussing a problem with these bodies,” Bannor told Sarai.
“A problem?”
“Yes,” he focused on the Kriar elder. “It’s like I thought, we probably won’t be able to stay like this too long.”
His wife-to-be blinked and stared at Marna. “Really?”
“Well,” the Kriar said. “If I took off the shape-locks, the dizzy spells would probably stop occurring. Of course, then they might become permanently bound to these bodies, which I wouldn’t recommend. I have no idea what the long-term consequences might be. Better to upgrade their born bodies before allowing that.”
Reality's Plaything 4: Savants Ascendant Page 34
