by Bob Blink
“You have learned a few tricks since you left Carta, haven’t you? I never would have guessed that the stone monuments were meant to perform such a function. How did you learn their secret?”
“Not me,” replied Jolan. “One of my friends stumbled onto the mystery when we were in Ygooro. I’m just one of the beneficiaries of the information.”
“You can travel anywhere in the Settled Lands now using this fantastic method?”
“No, we’ve only activated a select few of the portals thus far. We are thinking of how to use them against Ale’ald, and don’t want the secret to fall into their hands.”
“Very wise. Well, you certainly came through on your first promise. I am amazed and impressed by what I have seen thus far. We aren’t in the Land of Giants, by the way.”
“No, not completely there. I took some liberties with the location since I didn’t know if you were going to join us. Do you know where we are?”
“Of course. I’ve been here before many years ago. You think the city lies beneath these waters? Based on what?”
“As I said, we found information pointing us here in Ygooro. We also have a map showing the lake being far smaller in the past with indications of a city here. There is also the presence of the portal, and the information we have says there is another somewhere. We have been unable to find it, so perhaps it is with the city.”
“That is very little to inspire such confidence.”
“I also have a feeling, and they have been very dependable of late.”
“Like the one that led you to that marvelous staff of yours? I remember your telling me how you found it.”
Jolan nodded watching Altz for his reaction. Altz had arrived at the estate an hour earlier, alone as asked. He’d said he was ready to take a chance. He was getting old and didn’t know how many more opportunities he’d have to find the city he’d hoped to see all his life. Jolan had thanked him for trusting him, and Altz had replied that he was trusting his own instincts, not Jolan.
“I assume you realize how dangerous this lake is. There are creatures that inhabit the waters that present a great danger to any who venture onto the surface. Perhaps that is a clue that I overlooked.”
“Asari told me of the creatures. I assume they are magical in origin?”
“From the way they are said to act, I would assume so as well. Now that we are here, how do we go about removing the water and seeing if the city is actually here?”
“I think we have to go out there,” Jolan said, pointing to the small island about a quarter of a mile from the shore.
“I just told you how dangerous the lake is, and immediately you suggest we go boating?”
“I realize there is some risk, but with magic to propel the boat it shouldn’t take long to make that short distance. I doubt the creature would have much time to react to our presence.”
“You don’t know much about these creatures. We could easily become trapped out there.”
“I suspect we will find we don’t need to return in the same manner we use to get out there. Once someone is on the island, I have a backup plan to extract us if necessary.”
Altz looked at the lake and shook his head. “This is crazy. How are you going to even find a boat up here in the first place?”
“It will be here shortly. We came on ahead so I could show you around. Still game, or are you having second thoughts?”
“Let me see your boat before I decide.”
A bit later Ronoran appeared in the portal to warn Jolan they were bringing it through and to be ready. Jolan stood near the front where he could use his magic to grab the boat as it came through and waited. A short delay later and the bow peeked through the opening and started sliding his way. It was suspended a foot above the ground, and Jolan carefully wrapped bands of force around it until he could feel he held it securely. Gently he eased it forward, and gently laid it on the beach. He looked at Altz and grinned. “Boat,” he said simply.
The boat wasn’t nearly as large as he would have liked, but it was all they’d been able to locate on short notice that would pass through the portal. With the way locked open, they could pass an army or whatever goods would fit.
“What about the balloon?” Jolan asked.
“Wylan said he could have it here by tomorrow.”
“You have a choice,” Jolan explained. “You can come in the boat, or you can wait here on shore and come out by balloon in the morning.” Jolan explained what traveling by balloon would involve.
“I’m not ready to be suspended above the lake in some floating contraption. I’ll go by boat and hope you are right once again.”
In the end, four of them elected to make the trip. Asari wouldn’t be left behind, and Luzoke was brought along as one with very powerful abilities. He and Jolan would use their magic to push against the shore and drive the boat across the water. Asari would steer, and Altz would watch for any of the creatures. Ronoran would watch to be sure they made it, and then report back to Cobalo. Jolan and the team expected to spend at least a day on the island.
With the boat bobbing gently on the water next to the shore, the four of them climbed aboard and set off. Using their magic to push off, the boat moved swiftly away from land and headed out into the water. The farther from land they went, the less effective their magic would be, and Jolan expected they would shift to pulling against the island once they crossed the halfway point. They’d gone a little more than halfway, with the transition to pulling working as hoped, when Altz suddenly yelled, “Here comes one!”
Jolan looked where he was pointing and saw a large white mass moving impossibly fast in their direction. It would have taken a speedboat back home to move that quickly, and there was no doubt the creature was going to smash into them very soon.
Luzoke turned and released a beam of white light so bright it left a temporary black line in Jolan’s vision. The beam impacted the water in front of the beast and then hit the animal itself. Great clouds of steam were created, and a horrendous screech was heard from the animal, but it kept coming. Realizing his beams were of no use, Luzoke returned to the task of pulling the boat, attempting to increase their speed toward the island and safety.
The creature was no more than seventy feet away when a series of sharp cracks erupted from the back of the boat. Jolan looked back and saw that Asari was standing, the tiller between his legs, and was firing the Colt at the approaching monster. Five shots blasted from the handgun, and while Jolan couldn’t tell where the rounds were hitting, he could see the beast was slowing. Obviously the rounds were doing as intended, but even so the dying beast hit the boat with enough force to nearly topple it over. As Asari lost his balance his hand struck the edge and the Colt went flying. Jolan and Asari watched as the pistol spun through the air and splashed into the lake.
Asari looked at Jolan with a look of anguish and implored him to do something to retrieve the pistol. Jolan shook his head. It was well down in the water and sinking fast. Water was difficult to work through under the best of conditions, and here the pistol was out of sight and already had to be very deep in the dark water. They couldn’t spare the time now and there was no way to mark their location.
“It’s gone Asari,” he yelled. “It’s okay. You killed the beast. It’s more than worth it.”
Jolan was right. The large creature was floating off to one side, slowly sinking deeper into the water.
‘We’ve got to go,” yelled Altz. “More of them coming.”
Once again Jolan looked where Altz pointed and saw at least three of the creatures headed their way at full speed. It was easy to see they would arrive before the boat would make it to the island. Asari had left the bow and rifle back on shore, since the small crowded boat was not a suitable place for their use. That left them with nothing but magic, which these creatures seemed to be immune to.
Jolan suddenly had an idea. It had worked on him, and maybe it wouldn’t kill the creatures but might buy them a little time. He looked again to see which one wa
s closest and turned away from helping Luzoke pull the boat. That was a risk, because it would increase the time it would take for the boat to reach shore, but they weren’t going to make it anyway unless this worked.
Knowing that pointing the staff made no difference, Jolan did it anyway in his determination to stop the creature. As the others watched, a massive block of the lake water suddenly turned to solid ice, floating to the surface with the creature still inside. Jolan could see the creature still moving inside the ice and knew it wouldn’t hold him for very long, but it might be enough.
“Clever,” yelled Altz. “I see what you did.”
Altz suddenly released his own version of the same spell, causing another of the creatures to become trapped. Jolan was surprised at the strength of the older mage. Jolan hadn’t ever been able to tell how strong Altz was, but he now knew that Altz was far stronger than he was. Jolan attacked another of the creatures, and Altz did the same. Within seconds they had six of the beasts trapped within blocks of ice, although Jolan could see the first one he had encased had almost broken free.
It didn’t matter. While they had been battling the creatures, the boat had approached the shore. As the land came closer, Luzoke’s ability to interact grew as well, and they were speeding toward the small sandy spot. They would be there before any of the creatures could get free.
Once they landed they pulled the boat up onto the land to keep it out of reach of the creatures.
“Dragons!” exclaimed Luzoke visibly shaken. “I thought I’d be able to take on anything with my beams, but they had no effect.”
“I don’t think we will be going out there again soon,” said a despondent Asari, still feeling the loss of his treasured pistol.
The others looked where he was pointing. The water boiled with the trails of at least a dozen of the creatures, which were now circling the island as though awaiting another chance.
“Good thing you have a backup plan,” said Altz with a shudder. “I told you that you didn’t understand these creatures.”
Jolan was more than willing to admit he’d been overconfident once again. For now, it didn’t matter. If things worked out as he hoped, they wouldn’t need either the boat or the backup plan to get back to shore. That was, if they could actually find the controls to use the “keys” that Altz had brought.
Finding the control area was simple. No attempt had been made at concealment, since whoever had set this all up didn’t expect anyone to ever get to the island without the knowledge of what was here anyway. Near the center was a large rock enclosure with two large doors set into the stone. The doors were warded, but only against normal access. Anyone with magic could easily bypass the simple wards. They did so and walked inside to the small room.
“Dragons, you have found it indeed,” said Altz after a quick look at the metal panel on a long pedestal at the far end of the room. Jolan couldn’t tell how he was so positive since all he could see was the panel with four transparent openings. Altz walked over and lifted the large cover to reveal a smooth surface with four irregularly shaped cavities inside it.
“When do you want to try this?” asked Altz.
“No time like the present. The sooner we know, the sooner we can plan accordingly.”
Altz reached into his vest and pulled out a small box which was restrained by a chain around his neck. Releasing the chain, which took a small spell, he set the box next to the panel and opened it to reveal four glowing crystals, each slightly different in color and shape. “The “keys” he said unnecessarily.
Carefully he placed each of the crystals into the appropriately shaped cavity. Once they were all in place, he took a deep breath and pulled on the cover that he had raised a few minutes earlier. As the cover slid closed, covering the crystal keys, they could see the four crystals suddenly flare into life through the clear access ports. They grew incredibly bright, and then seemed to pulse with life. The group could tell nothing from inside the small room, so the party hurried back out to the shore to see what would happen.
“Can you tell anything?” asked Asari who was disappointed to see the lake still filling the valley where the city was supposed to be.
Jolan thought he might be able to hear and feel a distant roaring and rumble in the ground. That could be the spillways that Asari and Luzoke had found letting the water out of the lake.
“The creatures are gone,” said Luzoke.
He was right. They had all been so intent on what might happen to reveal the city they hadn’t noticed. No longer did the waters around the island boil with their rapid circling of the sanctuary.
“Do you think they have actually left or are simply hiding in the depths?” asked Asari.
“They are most likely gone,” Altz said. “The use of the “keys” established we are the rightful mages, and whatever magic created them probably whisked them from existence since their task is completed.”
“Why isn’t the lake empty?” asked Asari.
“I think it is draining. I think I can hear the water across the lake.”
“Any idea how long this will take?”
“I made some rough calculations based on my guesses as to the size of the lake and the sizes of the caves we found. The ones Asari and Luzoke found on the west side were far bigger than the first one. Even so, I’m guessing it will drain about an inch or two an hour. Of course, we may not have found all of the drains that were built.”
“It’ll take a year to drain it away,” Altz complained.
“I hoped whoever did this had planned for a better way.”
Luzoke grabbed Jolan’s arm and pointed. “Maybe they did.”
Out in the lake a wall was growing out of the water, separating the island and a portion of the lake from the huge expanse of water.
“Magic,” said Altz. “That barrier is some kind of shield. I think it is designed to hold back the water.”
“If this part of the lake drains first, it will go much faster. I’ll bet that barrier will hold back the water until the city is drained, and then slowly drain the rest back to its original levels. Let’s have a drink and see how much change we can get in an hour.”
“You brought something to drink?” asked Altz surprised.
“I figured we would be here a day or so. I brought some supplies. They are in the boat in that big black box. We can go back to shore if you prefer and watch from there, but I for one, would rather wait and see if we can avoid another boat ride in case those creatures haven’t disappeared as you postulate. From the measurements I made, we might just be able to walk back to shore in the morning.”
They had signaled Ronoran with the prearranged flag that meant all was okay and that they would be waiting here on the island for now. They could see him head back to the portal and disappear. While Jolan retrieved the Mage’s Box, Asari started a fire so they would have something to cook on later, and they all gathered near the shore where they had put a marker so they could watch and see how fast the water drained away.
Handing Altz a tankard of ale from the box, which had amused Altz no end when he’d seen the open drinks and other items neatly arranged inside, Jolan asked Altz, “What do you think we’ll find?”
“Hopefully secrets that have been lost for over a thousand years. I hope there is something that explains the basis of magic there. Too much of what we do is based on simple memorization of something that has been passed down. They could create. I want to know how they did it.”
Chapter 102
After an hour they made the first measurement. The water was dropping faster than Jolan had suspected it would, but not as fast as he had hoped. He’d hoped some kind of magic would be at work that would accelerate the pace even more, but then given the city had been underwater for a thousand years, whoever had designed the system probably figured a bit longer wouldn’t be important.
“It’s down almost a two feet,” said Luzoke when he walked back from where he’d made his measurement.
“That’s thirty-t
wo feet a day, or three hundred feet a week. By this time tomorrow I think we’ll be able to walk across the stone bridge to shore, so I for one think waiting here overnight is prudent. Tomorrow we can go back to Cobalo or Carta, and by this time next week we should have some idea what’s down there. I don’t know how deep the lake is, so we’ll just have to wait and see before we know when we’ll be able to explore.”
The others agreed, and the team went to work to make a comfortable campground for the rest of the day and the coming night. It was fall now, and the weather was still nice, although there might be breezes here in the mountains. Enough wood for a comfortable fire would be nice, especially for Asari who wasn’t entirely immune to a little bit of weather.
By the end of the day they could see how far the water had receded. The far barriers that held back most of the lake stood out sharply from the lowered water level on this side. If they were to fail, a massive wall of water would be unleashed in their direction. They would have to hold for months, probably into the spring until the levels of the whole lake dropped enough to make the barriers unnecessary.
“Where do you think the water is headed?” Altz asked Jolan as they wandered around the small island.
“Most of the drains, and by far the largest, were along the southwest edges of the valley. It would seem reasonable to assume the water might flow into southern Angon eventually.”
Altz nodded. “I wonder if part of the reason that section of the country is desert is because the water has been held back from its natural course.”
“I suppose it might be a factor, although the lake has been filled for many years. The flow of water from those areas should long ago have returned to normal, perhaps by another path. I wonder what destruction the unleashing of so much water suddenly is causing.”
They wandered back into the small room where they had triggered the changes to the lake. The four crystals remained bright behind their clear covers.
“I don’t think they should be removed until the lake is drained, then it probably wouldn’t matter. I worry that removing the crystals would interrupt the water flows and cause the barriers to fail.” Altz looked at the crystals as he was talking. They continue to glow brightly, pulsing with the energies that they were controlling to accomplish the task they had been created for so long ago. “I know the spells to reactivate them, but it couldn’t be done here and they are clearly designed to recover the city. There is nothing that says how the original flooding was accomplished.”
