by Bob Blink
“Are you sure this is safe?” asked Ingari when Morin explained what he wanted to try.
“Jolan and Ronoran tell me the ring saved one of their friends who was very badly wounded. It uses the power, but it is designed to help. You’ve got to try Ingari,” Morin pleaded. “You know that without help you haven’t much of a chance anymore. None of the doctors know what to do.”
Ingari looked at her husband of thirty-two years and sighed. She didn’t like the power, never had, but her illness was weighing heavily on him. If there was a chance, any chance, she had to try. Besides, she would like to be rid of the constant discomfort. It was actually pain of late, not just a heaviness inside, that made her tired.”
“Okay,” she said finally.
Ronoran looked at Morin and when he nodded he moved over and sat beside her on the couch. He wanted to tell her he’d never done this before, but decided that wouldn’t help her uneasiness.
“Just give me your hand,” he said. “All I need is to make contact for the ring to work.”
Slowly she held out her hand, and Ronoran took it gently between his own. At first he thought nothing was going to happen, but then the stone began to glow more brightly and the light seemed to flow from the stone and over and around Ingari’s arm. It looked as if it disappeared into her, and suddenly her eyes grew wide.
“Does it hurt?” asked Morin concerned.
She shook her head from side to side.
It took almost a minute, the glow almost painfully bright at times. The light seemed to pulse as it performed whatever miracles it was about, and then it suddenly began to dim, the light pulling back into the stone, which returned to its more standard faint glow.
Both Morin and Ronoran looked anxiously at Ingari.
“The pain is gone,” she said in wonder. She reached under her blouse and felt. “The swelling is gone too.”
Ronoran let loose of her hand and allowed her to stand. She stood erect as opposed to the slight bend she had been displaying since they had arrived. Whatever pain had caused her to crouch had now dissipated. She looked years younger already.
Ingari reached for Morin and gave him a hug. When Ronoran stood he received one as well, which embarrassed him mightily.
As the women rushed off to prepare dinner, Morin looked at Ronoran and the ring.
“Thank you,” he said sincerely. “I don’t think she would have lasted through the winter.”
Ronoran nodded but said. “You were the one who found the ring in the first place. It is only fitting that it was able to help you. As Jolan said, the user is only a conduit. I had nothing to do with what happened.”
“Do you realize how much good that ring could do on the battlefield. How many lives could be saved?”
Ronoran shook his head.
“I don’t know if Jolan knows, but I suspect he must. The ring is limited. I could sense it as it worked. It can help, but used constantly as it would in a hospital or on the battlefield, would consume it. It needs time to recharge, and should be used sparingly when there is a real need.”
* * * *
Morin, Ingari, and Ronoran waited outside the gate of the estate in Carta. They had already delivered the load with apologies for the lateness, and now waited for permission to enter the grounds to meet Jolan’s friend Tomas. Ingari had insisted on traveling with Morin for the first time in a long while. She was feeling completely normal, and had even lost a bit of the gray that had been rapidly spreading through her hair.
The guard returned a moment later, opened the large gates and told them where to go. They were unprepared for the extent of the grounds, and couldn’t help staring as they made their way up the long tree lined carriage way toward the house. Waiting for them was an elegantly dressed young man.
“Only Jolan would know some of the things in your note,” he said after they had exchanged greetings. “He is vague about what this is about, but he asks that I show you to the stone monument I told him we have on the property. Do any of you know what this is about?”
Ronoron nodded and said. “I do, but I’m certain you wouldn’t believe me. It is better if I show you.”
“This way then. It’s out back of the house. The open area in front of it has always made a fabulous patio.”
Tomas lead the group into the house and straight through to the back. None had seen such a finely furnished residence before, and Tomas caught them gaping at the furnishings.
“This is my father’s place. It’s a bit ornate for my tastes, but he hasn’t been well so I have been staying here. Perhaps after this business is completed we can have refreshments and you can bring me up to date on my friend.”
The portal sat just outside the back door, off to one corner of a large patio area. Tomas led them over to it, and Ronoran walked over to the opening. He had the activator crystal, but he wouldn’t need it. Even a mage of his level could turn it on if he knew how. Moments later, the faint glow could be seen in the hollow cavity indicating the portal had indeed responded to Ronoran’s spell.
“I’ve never seen it glow like that,” said Tomas. “Now what do we do?”
Ronoran was uncertain whether he should attempt to try the portal or not. He was about to step into the glow and see if any other portals had been activated, when suddenly Jolan stepped out of the opening with a big smile on his face.
Chapter 96
The five day ride up the coast from Burar to Cobalo gave Jolan a lot of time to think. He was traveling alone, something he had never done before in all the time he’d been on Gaea, and it was an odd sensation being without someone to talk to. The fact he was able to travel without attracting attention showed how well he fit in and had adapted to the life here over the past two years. He knew it would have been easy to be happy here if it weren’t for all the trouble Cheurt had caused by his schemes to take over the Settled Lands.
Jolan had no idea what to expect once he reached Cobalo. The only news he had were the bits and pieces he’d picked up at the various inns while traveling, and there was no telling how accurate any of that might be. It seemed that the Queen still ruled Angon, which meant Mojol had not yet been found. That would be the first strike against him when he returned. Sayusta had been adamant that he leave for fear his presence was the motivation for Cheurt’s attacks. He could see no reason for that to have changed, especially with Lonid’s poison tongue prompting her decisions. Once again he wondered why he was making this trip. He’d far rather be attending to matters at hand by searching up at the lake where he’d sent Asari.
He shifted in the saddle and sighed. He couldn’t very well let the whole kingdom fall just because he had personal issues with a couple of the people currently in charge. He had discovered information that could very well change the course of the war, and that had to be brought back to the Council. He’d decide when he arrived, and saw what kind of reception he received, how much of the peripheral matters he would reveal. Giving them access to the portals would mean someone would almost certainly get curious and pop into the other locations he’d really prefer to keep to himself, but that simply wouldn’t be possible.
There was no doubt the country was at war. The road had been heavily traveled with wagons loaded with goods destined for Seret via the tunnel in Burar. The port of Cobalo was filled with ships, far more than he could ever remember. He suspected that a final push to get materials shipped before the winter months with the very strong winds was part of the reason for the number of vessels docked, but it was possible he was seeing the new norm for the port. If only they were winning, but universally he’d heard that Ale’ald was slowly taking control of more of Kimlelm, and no one seemed to doubt it would fall completely before the first winter snows. The leadership had already fled to Seret, and were trying to wage the war from there.
Although he was tired from pressing hard the past five days, it was currently only midday and checking into an inn to rest, thereby postponing his visit to the College until tomorrow was a luxury he didn’t feel
he should take. Instead he rode to the north gate and asked the guard to send a message to Mage Dibon that he was waiting to speak with him. Dibon was one of the good guys, and even if Jolan was not in favor, Dibon could be counted on to listen with an impartial ear.
Dibon must have been hard to find because Jolan waited almost an hour before the man suddenly rushed into the waiting area looking pointedly for Jolan. Seeing that Jolan was still there, he visibly relaxed and hurried over.
“I’m sorry it took so long. I was in a meeting and the guard simply left the message on my desk rather than let me know.” He smiled, making Jolan feel welcome. He’d been starting to wonder if he’d lost the last of his friends here. “You look well. We’ve all been wondering where you got off too. No one has heard a word from you since you left back in the spring.”
“I clearly wasn’t wanted here, so I went exploring for something that came to my attention last spring. It took me well into southern Angon.”
“That’s changed. You are back in the good graces of the leadership.”
“That’s good to hear, but why?”
“You’ll understand in a bit. Come, there are people waiting to see you.”
“Wait. No one I’ve talked to seemed to know. How is Chancellor Vaen? When I left she was doing poorly and some didn’t expect her to live. I’ve wondered about her many times but there was no way to check.”
“She recovered. You will see in a minute. She’s the Chancellor again and that’s where we are headed.”
Dibon wouldn’t explain further, indicating Jolan would see soon enough.
“What of the others?” Dibon asked suddenly. “Are they here in town with you? They have been sorely missed.”
“They are far from here taking care of something I’m pursuing.”
Dibon nodded as if Jolan’s answer was not unexpected. They were keeping up a brisk pace, and soon entered the Council building. They headed up the stairs to Vaen’s office. Jolan knew the way as he’d been there often enough over the past year.
As they entered her office, Jolan realized that his old advisor Ward also waited inside. Vaen looked up as he entered, and Jolan was surprised when she stood and walked out from behind her desk to embrace him, without her cane. He’d never seen her walk without it before.
“Thank the gods you’re back,” she said without preamble. “I was afraid you’d left and given up on us. When you disappear, you do a thorough job of it, don’t you?”
Jolan was still looking at her, not really paying attention to what she’d said. She noticed his look and laughed.
“Yes, I do look good, don’t I?”
Vaen wasn’t kidding. Jolan hadn’t ever seen her looking like this. She looked years younger, and since she had been aging at about one year for every ten she lived, that said a lot.
“Whatever it was they infected me with almost killed me, but once my body decided to fight, whatever was keeping me from aging was activated. I’ve physically gotten younger by almost ten years in the last two months. The medical people don’t understand it, and no one knows where it will stop. Hopefully sometime before I revert to my childhood. In the meantime, I’m feeling great.”
“No side effects other than the fact you’re getting younger?” asked Jolan.
“None, other than the despair from those that were hoping I’d finally be out of the way and they could take over my position. Now they worry I’ll be here another couple of hundred years.”
“What happened to Lonid?”
Vaen frowned and walked back to her desk to sit, indicating Jolan should do the same.
“We don’t know where he is. Once I recovered I took over control again. When I learned what stupid things he was doing, I had him removed from the Council. I didn’t think, and probably wouldn’t have had any right to detain him anyway, but within a few days no one saw him any more. He has moved out of Cobalo and no one seems to know where he has gone. He knows a great deal I would hate to see fall into the wrong hands.”
Jolan understood her concern. Lonid had intimate knowledge of many of their projects.
“I’m sorry about Shyar,” Vaen said. “I didn’t learn about her kidnapping until long after you had left and I took over the office again. It wasn’t any secret that the two of you were lovers.”
“You’ve received no word of her then?”
“Nothing. I’m sorry.”
“I expected that Cheurt might have sent some message, trying to use her as a lever against me. I’m not sure if I’m relieved or concerned that hasn’t happened. I don’t know how I’d react if one came.”
Jolan couldn’t believe she might be dead. He refused to consider the possibility. He would have to wait and see what actions Cheurt took, for there was no doubt he was the person responsible.
‘That was an interesting man you sent our way a few months back,” said Ward.
For a minute Jolan was confused, then he remembered the man Nerila had sent back to Dibon.
“Was he of any use?” asked Jolan. “I wasn’t entirely comfortable letting him go free.”
“He gave us the names of a couple of Cheurt’s undercover wizards in the area. We were able to kill four of them. The rest disappeared. They weren’t willing to surrender, so we had no choice. The man died afterwards, you know. He seemed to have no purpose anymore. He just wasted away. What was it, compulsion?”
Jolan nodded. “Nerila had been studying compulsion trying to understand how it might be used against us. When we had a choice of killing the man or sending him here, she used the spell on him. She claims she’ll never do it again, for any reason. It made her physically sick.”
“That girl is full of surprises,” said Vaen. “I never would have thought she’d wander off with you like she did, and now she comes up with something like this. I’d like to have a talk with her. I think we have been wasting her talents.”
“Both she and Rifod have been more help than I ever would have thought,” said Jolan. “You have yet to see their latest contribution.”
Vaen looked at him with a question clearly on her mind, but Dibon changed the direction of the conversation suddenly.
“You said you were in southern Angon all this time,” said Dibon. “What could have possibly prompted you to go there? Most of the place is useless desert.”
Chancellor Vaen and Ward looked surprised at this information. Obviously they hadn’t guessed where he’d gone.
“We were exploring Ygooro,” said Jolan curious to see how they would react.
“The lost Ygooro? You know where it is?” asked Vaen, her earlier question forgotten.
“Even with a map it took us a bit to find it. There’s not too much left, but we have found it useful.”
Vaen shook her head. “You do come up with surprises, don’t you? How did you find a map for Ygooro, and what did you hope to find there?”
Jolan wasn’t sure he wanted to reveal how he’d come by the map, but he was willing to explain what took him there.
“I sometimes get these feelings where something important can be found. That’s how I came upon my staff. Something told me I’d find something important in Ygooro. I was hoping it might be a way home, or something that could help with the war.”
“And that’s where the rest of your group is? They’re still in Ygooro?”
“Rifod and Nerila are still there. The rest are off on other errands.”
“Off where?” asked Ward, now clearly curious what was going on.
“Ronoran should be getting close to Carta by now, and Asari and Luzoke should be up by the great lake outside of Trailways.”
“That’s behind Ale’ald’s lines,” said Dibon. “What are they doing there?”
“I know,” said Jolan. “I’m a bit worried about that. If they get up to the lake, I doubt anyone will know they are there. Getting there might have been a problem. They are looking for Tilano, which is supposed to be hidden there somewhere. I hope to be able to talk with him in a day or so?”
“Tilano? Why would you think Tilano is up there? No one has even found a trace of where it might be in a thousand years of searching. There were at least bits and pieces that indicated Ygooro was in the southern desert somewhere, but none of the expeditions ever found a thing. I think we should let you tell this in your own way,” suggested Vaen. “We’ve been so full of questions, we haven’t given you a chance to tell us why you came back.”
Jolan looked at the expectant faces around him.
“Some of this I think we are going to want to keep secret. Maybe just among the members of this group, but that is for you to decide.” He looked around to see how they reacted. Seeing no dissent, he told them the rest “After we found the library in Ygooro, Nerila found a hand written note that told about the location of Tilano and the fact it had been hidden. Once she showed me the note, I had that same feeling that I had to go there. That is why Asari and the others are scattered about so.”
“What does that have to do with Ronoran going to Seret?” asked Vaen, forgetting she was going to let Jolan tell this in his own way.
“There is something I need in Seret,” answered Jolan, wondering if he should reveal this secret.
Vaen and the others were waiting, so he charged ahead.
“I think the “key to the city” for Tilano is there,” he said.
“What do you know of the “key” asked Ward.
“I’ve heard the story that the key is necessary to open the city. If I find the city, then I’m going to need the key.”
“Why would you believe there is such a thing?”
“Because the Council has been after the man who supposedly took it for many years. There must be some truth to the story, or why would the Council care if it was taken?”
