by Bob Blink
“A level four pulse would seriously injure him. I can tell he hasn’t raised his shields.”
“Trust me on this. Just one pulse. I promise you Jolan will be just fine.”
Looking decidedly uncomfortable, but curious about the total lack of concern of the two men, she did as asked. The pulse flared as it streaked across the room, then it struck the shields around Jolan, sparkled, and fizzled away. A look of shock spread across her face.
“How in the name of. . .”
Ward indicated Jolan should explain.
“The modified symbol created a shield that to first order looked and acted like the original. But it was a different spell, so I could also initiate the spell for the older shield. The result is a pair of shields which gives slightly more than twice the protection of the initial shield by itself. It has a second benefit.”
“You can’t detect the shield pair,” Vaen guessed based on what she had just witnessed. “How is that possible?”
“What is being detected is the dynamically changing composite of electromagnetic and magic power fields. The altered symbol causes the second field to be created with an inverted relative phase of the fields. If one checks very closely, the fields can still be seen, but more than a foot or so away, the observable fields cancel each other, and nothing can be seen. Twice the protection, and impossible to track,” said Jolan proudly.
“Can anyone produce this new shield?” Vaen asked Ward.
“Anyone who can produce the original shield, can produce the second one if they know the spell.”
Chancellor Vaen leaned back and let out a long breath of air. “Gods Ward. This is potentially a serious complication.”
“It’s even worse,” Ward said. “Jolan’s shield pair defeats shield-breaker.”
“God’s no,” Vaen said softly. “Are you certain?”
“Buris and Jolan ran a series of careful tests. There is no doubt.”
“Does Jolan understand the significance?”
“No, and I warned Buris not to tell him for the time being. Many of Jolan’s questions touch on the same topic, so I thought it best he talk with you.”
“I thought everyone would be as excited about this as I am,” Jolan said perplexed. “When Ward acted this way I was a bit surprised, but now you have the same reaction. I don’t get it.”
“This is a marvelous discovery, in a way. But there is another side to the matter that I guess needs to be explained. Tell me Jolan, were you surprised the other day when no one made much of your use of the power to kill?”
He nodded. He’d expected a big lecture and possible censure from the College given all the time they talked about the matter.
“Another question. Since we are likely to go to war with Ale’ald, have you thought at all about what that means and how such a war would be fought where they are using the powers of magic to win, and the rest of the Settled Lands refrain from doing so?”
“A great deal,” admitted Jolan.”
“And?”
“It doesn’t make sense to me. I can’t see how you could expect to win, or how you have managed to stay independent this long. There is something I’m missing.”
“That’s because quite frankly, we’ve lied.”
Jolan looked at Chancellor Vaen in surprise. He’d known there must be something, but he hadn’t expected such an admission.
She sighed, and then moved around slowly from behind her desk.
“Back in the War of Mages when so much damage was done to the land and the people, there were many who were level eight and nine, and even a few tens. The spells they could command were horribly powerful. According to some of the records there was a spell that only tens could use that would ignite a fireball in the sky that was as bright as the sun, which would destroy entire cities and all that lived in them. There were spells that could cause the very earth to shake, and cause the rock of the mountains to turn into seas of molten lava. Rolling waves of fire could be turned against advancing troops, reducing the armies of thousands to ash in minutes. Those spells we mostly don’t need to worry about, because there are no longer those with the ability to cast them.”
“The spells we can command are bad enough. Suppose your adversary Cheurt were to be involved in a battle. While he could only command a single firewrap spell at a time, thus providing some bounds to the damage he could do in a day, think how many he could kill during a battle if that spell was turned repeatedly on normal warriors. No one could stop him because he would maintain shields protecting him from all the normal weapons. Now multiply that damage by all the wizards of level five and above they could field during a war.”
“Anyone who thinks it through will realize that to survive, Angon and the rest of the Settled Lands have no choice but to provide some defense against such actions. We seek out and contain all of the war spells we can find it is true. We have a strict code against using the power against the common soldier, just as soldiers are pledged against attacking civilians, but we have no such constraints against those who use the power for evil. We don’t advertise this position, and thankfully the number of wars are far apart so people don’t think on the matter. But should a war develop we field mages who can work to limit the damage being done by the wizards the other side has available, and kill them outright where we can.”
“How is this done?”
“We target the enemy wizards very carefully, and choose the time of attacks. One way is to align a number of mages against them, overpower their shields, and then kill them. With their shields down, they can be killed with magic or with something as common as a sword or crossbow. On rare occasions it comes down to a simple one on one fight to see who is strongest.”
Jolan was fascinated. So there was some expediency and common sense behind all of the posturing. “Why all the pretense then?”
“In part because there are fools in abundance. There is one political branch that has ideals so impractical they would throw away the country in trying to achieve them. Most of the populace have never seen the horrors of war, and they can be swayed by the ideals. To be too forthcoming would be to give them ammunition in their battle against the more realistic element. Besides, we do put forth great effort to develop a productive and peaceful application of the power for the betterment of society. Given the chance, that would be our preferred path.”
“When do the student-mages learn of this?”
“Many are not explicitly told, although some might suspect. The selected few who have developed along lines that could fulfill this need are made aware after their fifth year. They are brought into the fold, so to speak, and given additional training in case the need should arise. A few of these people have been activated as a result of the attack on you last week.”
“That’s what you meant when you said to activate the military support mages.”
“You do pay attention. I wondered afterwards if you’d picked up on that. We have strayed here a bit, however. I was telling you how we deal with the enemy wizards on the battlefield. Our two strongest weapons are the fact we know where they are at all times because we can track their shields. Then there is a spell you’ve heard mentioned called shield-breaker. Shield-breaker does exactly what its name implies. It disrupts the shields of the mage or wizard it is executed against, and prevents him or her from re-establishing another shield for a very short time. The delay has something to do with the decay mechanism of the inactivated shield. The delay provides an opportunity for an attack by a mage or commoner. We had fielded mage-archer teams to take out the enemy in past wars.”
It sounded a lot like sniper teams to Jolan. But he now realized where Vaen was headed.
“My new shields suddenly take away your two most powerful tools against the wizards on the battlefield.”
“That’s right. If the wizards ever learn of your spell, and learn how to implement it for themselves, we are in serious trouble. As amazing as this discovery is, I cannot help but wish you had never stumbled across it.”
“Knowledge cannot be unlearned. And if I can discover it, someone else is likely to at some point.”
“No one has in hundreds of years,” he countered.
“What would you like me to do?”
“Do not tell anyone of its existence. From what I’ve been told only four of us know about your discovery at the moment. That’s already too many, but I trust all of those involved. Let’s keep the group to that size. Don’t use the spell unless your very life is at risk, and then activate it in such a way you cannot be observed doing so. Also, expend every effort to make sure the person who caused you to feel the need to use the capability does not survive to consider the matter later.”
Chapter 63
Cheurt leaned back in his chair and let his eyes wander toward the window to his left as the courier made his way out of the room on his way back to his quarters on the other side of the academy. The news was about as bad as could be, but that wasn’t the fault of the man who had just left, and in fact Cheurt was satisfied with the man’s dedication in this matter. He’d been on the road for the better part of five months, much of it through the worst weather of the year, and he hadn’t complained. He’d done as asked, and would have headed back out this very day if Cheurt had asked him to. For that reason Cheurt had not let his frustration show.
Now he knew for certain. The earther Randy was indeed here on Gaea, and pretending to be a local by the name of Jolan. Even worse he appeared to have the abilities of a mage, some reasonably well developed. That meant every contact Cheurt had had with the man needed to be recalled and reviewed against what he might have learned. He was apparently being guided by a resourceful youth from the Trailways area, who had managed to get them to the capital of Seret, where they had divulged the existence of the Nexus, as well as some of Cheurt’s activities on Earth.
When his informant had split from Kalnd the two men were on their way to Cobalo with letters from the King of Seret himself to meet with the annoying College of Mages. That meant every secret that Randy knew would already have been handed over to the King of Angon. The surprise he’d hoped for was clearly gone. The question remaining was how much would be believed by those in charge. In a way, that they knew of the Nexus and his visits to Earth were a secondary concern. They could not visit there themselves, and they couldn’t prevent him from doing so or prevent him from gathering additional information. However, he needed to know if they would make plans to be ready for his initial attacks scheduled for later this year.
He considered the timetable they had been following and wondered if it would be at all possible to accelerate their plans. Finding the right knowledge from Earth was harder than he expected. Part of the problem was the sheer volume of information available. He’d brought back formulas for gunpowder some time back, only to learn that the powder he’d chosen was far too powerful for the weapons they were building, which had resulted in multiple failures and deaths. On a later trip he’d discovered that a much simpler, less explosive mixture had been used in the low quality steels that his own factories were producing. That was another problem. Much of the information available to him on Earth couldn’t be used here. The technology to take advantage of what he learned simply did not exist on Gaea in general, and Ale’ald in particular. Ale’ald was generally behind the rest of the Settled Lands because of years of isolation and reliance on magic to solve their problems. Given time, they could gradually improve the infrastructure here, making the information he’d brought back of use. Time was a commodity that they’d now lost control of.
Cheurt wondered if Randy might be able to give the leaders in Gaea guidance to spur their own programs in response to his own efforts. It would be galling if they could field opposition using the same kinds of technology he’d hoped would turn the direction of his planned war.
If Randy had known in advance that he would be coming to Gaea, something Cheurt still didn’t believe, presuming instead the man’s transfer was some kind of freak accident, Cheurt might have felt pressured into modifying his plans. Arriving on Gaea unprepared, Cheurt seriously doubted that Randy would be of much use to the leaders of the other countries. From the probing of his brain Cheurt knew him to be nothing more than a student, not even one who had completed his higher education. He was not a warrior, and was not interested in the arts of war. He might have some general concepts of how weapons were made, but as Cheurt was learning for himself, concepts didn’t deliver a workable product. Specifics were required, and he couldn’t see how Randy could have any to offer. He remained confident that his plans were still usable. The word his courier had brought back of the stories that Randy and the youth Asari had told in Seret further supported his feelings. From what the courier and Kalnd had gotten from Lord Tonak, Randy told of being inadvertently brought to the Settled Lands when he had tried to seize Cheurt before he could leave Earth some months back. That also explained the mystery of that oddly unsettled transition through the Nexus.
Even so, Randy, Cheurt couldn’t think of him as Jolan, needed to be taken care of, as did the boy Asari. By now most everything Randy knew would have been transferred to Cheurt’s enemies, but Cheurt was afraid of what might be buried in his mind and might surface at any time. He’d proven to be a problem when Cheurt had dismissed him as irrelevant, and he wasn’t about to repeat the mistake. Besides, Randy appeared to be a developing mage, a disturbing surprise, and that alone meant he should be killed. Since he couldn’t know what the boy knew, it was best to be rid of him as well.
In this regard Cheurt was extremely pleased and surprised at the actions of Kalnd, whom he’d always considered basically useless. The man had shown the right kind of initiative, sending back word while pressing on to Cobalo with the intent to locate Randy, and kill him if possible. If he failed in the latter goal, he still would have located the man and know his habits when Cheurt managed to get a more qualified team in place. He’d have to find the proper way to show his gratitude and pleasure when he next saw the man.
The first order of business would be to select another team to go to Cobalo. He couldn’t afford to be gone as long as would be required to travel all the way there and back. There was too much at stake here, especially with the constant hand-holding he needed to do with the committee. No matter. He could trust his people to be sure the two trouble-makers were eliminated, even if the College of Mages were providing them sanctuary. The timing was even fortuitous. The regular communication from his infiltrator inside the royal court should be arriving within the week, and should contain a bit more information regarding the matter. Within a week his team should also be returning from the Nexus and their most recent meeting with Ryltas.
Whom should he send? He had been expanding his coterie of personal wizards of late, which gave him a larger crew to select from, but this was a matter that demanded at least some of his long established team. He decided he’d send Cerkim, one of his experts with the bow, and Toran. Toran was the strongest of those available, and he wanted at least one of the archers to be able to go to the Nexus for the next meeting, which would occur before the team could go to Cobalo and return. With so many of his people occupied he would have to make the journey himself this time, and didn’t like going into the Land of Giants without the support of his archers. He decided also to send a couple of his newer followers. The larger group would be more flexible, and even though the new members lacked the strength and expertise of his older associates, they were still quite powerful wizards. With luck they could leave for Angon within the week. It was possible they might reach Cobalo and find Kalnd had performed even better than he could expect and had already killed the troublesome interloper. If so, they made the trip for nothing, but he knew he didn’t dare count on things going that smoothly.
He couldn’t see how these developments would affect his interaction with the committee, especially if he could be proactive and eliminate the problem swiftly. The committee had approved the plan to start manufacture of the muzzle-loading weapons, as we
ll as the construction of the observation balloons. The noxious gases had been a recurring problem, and the manufacture of more of the gas and canisters had been tabled for now. So far, he was being allowed to proceed as he wished. He knew the situation would only improve. Half of the committee were loyal to him personally, and within a few weeks one of the more troublesome opponents would finally succumb to the incurable disease that had been slowly stealing the life from the man. Cheurt was already maneuvering for his replacement with one of his own.
Given the severity of the problem that had been dropped on him, things were still moving along well enough. So long as he could mount an attack before winter, the fact his enemies knew too much of his plans wouldn’t help them. He leaned back in the padded chair as he reviewed his decisions and twirled the heavy ring subconsciously around his finger, the green stone glowing softly.
Chapter 64
After weeks of mostly solitary travel, Asari could see the buildings of Trailways less than a mile ahead of him. He’d made it back, coming full circle from the adventure that had begun many months before. He’d been eager to return to the familiarity of the little village when he’d set out from Cobalo so many weeks before, but now, before even arriving, he wasn’t so sure anymore. He’d never seriously entertained the idea of going directly back to Seret. There was simply nothing that could induce him to go aboard an ocean ship again, which meant the only way to get to Seret was to follow the road all the way here to Trailways first. He had unfinished business here in the wilderness. Perhaps after that was complete he’d consider continuing his journey. The thought of joining Morin and his extended family had come to mind more than once as he’d traveled through the lonely mountains. He would be with friends, and he could learn a trade, something he realized he would need once this was all over.
