by Bob Blink
About the only major setback had been his attempts to capture or kill the man from Earth. He still had his girlfriend, although he’d had little time to spare to think about what to do with her of late. He kept her around as bait and a potential lever against Randy should he resurface. Cheurt couldn’t figure out where the man kept going. After his team made their assault, he’d expected to be able to entice the man into his reach with the woman. But he’d learned the man had left Cobalo, although no one seemed to know where he had gone. Even the Councilman who had a hand in forcing Randy out of Cobalo hadn’t been able to provide any insight into where the man had gone when they captured him after his removal from office and drained his memories. The man knew surprisingly little that was useful, although he did provide interesting insight on how the Earther had developed. He was a formidable adversary it seemed.
The fact Randy had disappeared made Cheurt’s hostage almost worthless. He’d considered simply killing her and being done with it, but something had prevented him from doing so. After all, he’d spent a great deal of effort and lost several valuable wizards getting the cursed woman here. Maybe she’d prove useful eventually. At least she was a docile captive and didn’t take much management. That was especially true since they had relocated into the new quarters here in the castle itself. Recently he’d received word that the man had been seen back in Cobalo, although he seemed to disappear for extended periods somehow.
At the moment Cheurt was eagerly awaiting word from his men that had once again made the long journey into the Land of Giants. He wished there were a way to make that trip less of an issue. Ryltas was due to make a very important delivery this time and he was anxious to have it in hand. Ryltas had promised several items that would be significant improvements and make their winning the war before the next winter almost certain. His team should have met with him almost a week ago now and be well on their way back to Ale’ald even now.
Cheurt smiled. He liked his new location. Now he was getting the respect and power he deserved and was living in the castle along with the rarified few who ran the country. Most of the meetings were held in rooms nearby, and as often as not they were held here in his quarters, the people coming to him rather than distract him any more than necessary. In addition to multiple rooms for his personal living space, which included a full kitchen with his personal chef, he had a very spacious office and a large meeting room. There was also the room where he’d had the modified restraining cage installed for the woman, and the smaller room where his aid and the communications people spent the day.
He heard the machine start making its familiar clicks and clacks indicating that a message was coming in. That was one thing he owed the Earther. The telegraph system was clearly something Randy had established here on Gaea. When Ale’ald had captured Kimlelm, despite attempts to destroy the equipment, enough had been retrieved to set up a working system. They now had sufficient locations operational that he could communicate easily with his people in several parts of Ale’ald, the key cities in Kimlelm, and the regional commander that held the forces in Trailways. Once Ale’ald managed to start building their own equipment, the system could be significantly expanded, but even as it was, its availability had made it unnecessary for him to move all the way to Kimlelm to coordinate the war. He had expected that would become necessary, and then this miracle was given to him. That was when he made the move into his rightful place in the castle.
Minutes later his aide brought him the message. Something in the man’s demeanor told him this wasn’t going to be good news. He wondered what could have gone wrong now. Hopefully it wasn’t too serious.
“Impossible!” he shouted aloud when he read the message. “Are you sure this is correct?”
The telegraph operator shook slightly but nodded.
“Send a reply asking them to retransmit it,” Cheurt demanded.
As the man hurried away, Cheurt reread the message. Unexpectedly, it was from the Trailways facility. Ranul had written to tell him they had found Ryltas’ oddly light body resting on the node of the Nexus when they had arrived. He was quite dead, appeared to have been there for some time, and though he appeared not to have been bothered by animals, his body oddly lacked mass. Ranul had headed to Trailways to report the anomaly rather than return. He wanted to know what Cheurt would have him do.
Why would Ryltas have been there for some time? He wasn’t due to make the trip until fairly recently. Had something happened on Earth to prompt him to make an earlier trip? And what could have gone wrong? The transition had been made dozens of time without issue.
Cheurt continued rereading the note. Even more disturbing than the loss of his friend and resource on Earth, was the statement from Ranul that the Nexus, which was easily detected by anyone with the power once they got close, appeared to have disappeared. Ranul had been there many times, and knew exactly what to expect. If he said the Nexus was gone, that meant he was unable to detect the familiar mental pressure that marked the site. Could that explain what had happened to Ryltas? Had a failure in the Nexus itself somehow occurred while Ryltas was making the transition between worlds?
Dragons, this was bad. Cheurt accepted the piece of paper containing the retransmitted message from the man who scurried away as soon as possible. Cheurt didn’t bother to look at it, knowing it would be the same as the one he already held. Ryltas being dead would be setback enough. It would take many months for another to replace him, and would require a great deal of Cheurt’s personal time, and probably a trip to Earth by him as well. Time that he didn’t have at the moment. He’d also hoped that others would be making all the trips to Earth. He’d decided he didn’t like going there. Worst, however, was the news about the Nexus. If true, that meant trips to Earth would no longer be possible. They would have to make do with what they already had.
He thought for a moment and scribbled a note. There was no point asking Ranul to go back to the Nexus and re-verify the loss of the node. He would have made very sure already before sending such dire news. Cheurt would send another to check it independently, but he was certain what word would come back. He would really like to go himself and verify personally that the Nexus had disappeared. It seemed odd for that to happen when it had survived unattended for over a thousand years. Unfortunately, while communications allowed rapid contact with those far away, physical distances still were onerous barriers to any effort. He could not spare the weeks required to make such a journey at this time.
He wrote for Ranul to bring back Ryltas body. Maybe he could learn something from it. When he was satisfied he needed nothing else, he took the note into the communications room where the nervous operator waited for instructions. As he walked from the office, Cheurt wondered if this was a sign that things were going to start going against him.
Chapter 129
Shyar could sense the girl was annoyed with her, but it couldn’t be helped at the moment. She’d tried to send a picture of urgency and the need to focus elsewhere, but didn’t know if the message had been received or understood. Sending words didn’t work. It seemed she had to communicate visually. Perhaps that would change once she was able to draw more deeply of the power.
For now she was intent on modifying the cage that held her. She had made minor headway, but decided it was more than a matter of breaking free. She wanted to change the cage so she could access the power and leave when she wished, but return as well. She knew too little to simply break free and run. She needed information. If she carelessly interrupted the power that flowed through the bars of the cage, it would soon be obvious to those that watched her. Instead, she needed to make very subtle modifications, so the power that ran through the bars she changed reflected a flow of power, but which didn’t produce the nulling field as expected. It would make for an odd space inside where she could sense the power, but if she did it right, they would never suspect.
She also learned something else. Cheurt had a telegraph with which he communicated to his commanders in the fi
eld. The room was adjacent to her own, and she had already opened a listening port. She knew the equipment was stolen rather than something they had designed, since they hadn’t even bothered to change the transmittal coding. Cheurt couldn’t know that she was able to understand what was being sent. The machine was loud enough to make it easy to hear.
The last message came as a shock. Something had happened to the Nexus. That had to be Jolan’s doing. She had to get where she could communicate again. Perhaps she would be more help here inside as a mole, if she could only tell them what she learned.
Chapter 130
“You aren’t concerned that the Council might see this as over stepping the intent of the Queen’s directive allowing mages to engage the enemy?” Wylan asked after Jolan explained what he’d like to have the man’s soldiers put into place.
“What do you think the Queen would say?” Jolan countered.
“I suspect she’d be all for anything that can turn any encounters to our favor. This is still likely to cause you problems within the mage community though.”
“That can’t be helped. The information we are getting from your teams confirms that Ale’ald is definitely gearing up for an all out assault, to be launched very soon. You’ve told me that the intelligence also suggests that the primary focus of the attacks is to be two-pronged. They plan an all out push to cross the river in multiple locations, although we have yet to understand how they expect to do that effectively. The bridges remain down, and we haven’t found any evidence they have been gathering boats or barges to make the crossing. The river assault is planned to be coordinated closely with the sea based attack on Bandu on the north shore, trying to get a port city under their control much as they did when they took Kimlelm. You’ve found nothing to suggest a push from the south, which makes sense. The southern region is heavily guarded by troops from both Seret and Angon. The Angon-Seret tunnel is too important to let fall.”
“I can have the raw oil put into place. Hundred gallon tanks you say. That doesn’t seem like that much oil to cause the kind of damage you are talking, but then I saw the results of the explosion you set off in the park.”
“If we can have tanks of oil set into place at a number of key locations where we suspect they might attempt landings, it might be possible to both surprise them and make a serious dent in their man power. With the portals we have spotted and have ready to activate, a single mage or two can cover a lot of territory. Luzoke has been fully trained in how to make the fuel-air bomb, and claims he has no qualms about using it if it means stopping Ale’ald’s advance.”
“They are going to get a bit of a surprise if they come charging through the grass without the proper caution. I’ve had the troops out planting those fouled stakes you told me about. It seems a poor way to treat even an enemy soldier, but I understand your point.”
“The wounded will greatly burden their support systems, and most will die quite horribly. Even back home it took advanced medicines and a lot of experience before the doctors learned how to treat men wounded this way. It makes the remaining troops unwilling to press ahead so boldly. If we can slow them down, it provides more opportunity to stop them completely.”
“You seem very committed to winning this war, and you aren’t even from here.”
“If Angon loses, then Shyar loses. I can’t let that happen. Besides, I intend to make this my home. I have as much at stake as anyone else.”
“What about the sea attack? The last team that returned from Kimlelm probing around Wint said the ships looked ready to launch. It won’t be possible to get an opposing force into position in time to deter such an armada.”
“Chancellor Vaen has supplied a couple of mages to help me with something. At the same time Queen Iril has been moving troops into the area to be ready should Ale’ald be successful in landing their people. While the northern coast is pretty desolate now, with barren rocky cliffs and mostly arid empty wasteland, it must have been different a long time ago. There are a surprising number of portals positioned all along the coast. A fleet of ships would have difficulty making landing at most locations, but a single ship can put in most places. I plan to take a team and jump ahead of the attacking fleet and try and attack them as they pass.”
“Sea battles are notoriously unsuccessful. The ships do not maneuver well in these seas, and getting close enough for a mage to attack is difficult. A single pass, and you are separated, often without the ability to catch up, unless two ships decide to stop dead in the water and fight it out. That would be silly in this case; you’d be vastly outnumbered.”
* * * *
Jolan thought back to the discussion with Major Wylan as he stood on the forward deck of the Sea Chaser as it tacked against the wind making its way from shore toward the vast number of ships coming towards them from the east. Those ships were moving fast with the wind at their backs, and they wouldn’t be deterred seeing a single opposing ship coming their way. That was what he hoped at least.
The Sea Chaser was chosen for this task because it was nearby, and because it was a fast nimble ship with an experienced crew. Jolan was onboard with five other mages. Luzoke was there because he could create stronger shields than anyone Jolan knew of. Two of the other mages had fire rings exactly like Jolan’s. They seemed to be the most common of the rings. One of the mages was a five, and the other a six. They were both strong with fire naturally and, with the rings, could do great damage when they set their minds to it. Each also had reason to hate Ale’ald, and had expressed their willingness to use the power in the upcoming attacks. The final mage was also reasonably strong in shields, and would help Luzoke create the shields to protect the ship and crew as they passed through the armada. There was no doubt in Jolan’s mind that a number of wizards were on board, and magic would be sent their way, especially after they began their own attacks.
Jolan had asked the captain to take the Sea Chaser on an angled path through the approaching force. That would keep them tacking with the wind pushing them along quickly. The approaching ships would be moving at full speed, and would be unable to maneuver well because of their speed and the number of neighboring vessels. They would also not see their single ship as a danger until too late. He would see now if his plan had any chance of working. The first of the ships was near, the crew pointing in their direction.
Because Jolan had both the ring and the amplifier, he had more power and range than the other mages. He would allow them to take the closer ships, and he would send his fire toward those a bit more distant. With luck they would get as many as ten ships this pass.
The first of the enemy ships passed within seventy-five yards and Tarel let lose with a blast of Firestorm. Since no other ship was yet close, Nique followed suit, and hit the same ship with another blast of the deadly fire. Tarel was a pointer. Even though the use of his hands really had nothing to do with the effect he was creating, he extended his right hand and pointed toward the target. The effect was quite dramatic. The fire seemed to appear out of nowhere, and almost instantly swirled around the center mast and then rapidly expanded to cover the whole of the ship’s upper deck. The sails and the deck of the ship burst into a maelstrom of red-orange fire, the sails and any men on the deck instantly consumed by the impossibly hot flames. The ship started leaning and losing headway immediately, as the Sea Chaser passed off its starboard side and made toward the next vessels on their path.
There was no more time to watch. Jolan picked out a ship that was just over two hundred yards out. Even as he released his own burst of the Firestorm spell, he could sense both Tarel and Nique doing the same on another pair of closer ships. Almost immediately there were four ships that were being consumed and would no longer pose a threat to Bandu.
More ships were approaching, but now they were trying to maneuver away from the lone attacking ship. It was fruitless. They were moving too swiftly and Jolan’s team was too close. Wizards on the Ale’ald ship had come on deck, and blasts of energy beams and a couple of attem
pts at their own fire spells blasted against the sturdy shields Luzoke and his assistant had raised. So far it was going as planned, with nothing able to weaken their protection or damage their ship. The enemy hadn’t been prepared for something like this. It would be harder in the later passes, Jolan knew.
With the passage of the next group of ships, two were destroyed and a third damaged. It had been almost out of Nique’s range and, while the sails were afire, it was likely the ship would survive. They would have a problem trying to put ashore for repairs because Jolan had asked Queen Iril to station troops along the shore to watch for damaged ships.
Jolan had just blasted another ship when he heard Luzoke shout. “Jolan, look out.”
One of the enemy ships had turned toward them. It had made the turn just as Tarel had flamed the deck. The ship was a loss, but it was so close and was moving their way. It didn’t seem possible to avoid a collision.
Luzoke dropped his shielding effort, allowing the younger mage to hold what he could on his own. He released the strongest energy beam he could directly at the flaming hunk bearing down on them, targeting the bow just above the waterline. He could feel several strikes to the Sea Chaser as the enemy wizards took advantage of the lower shields. Fortunately they were on ships that moved quickly out of range, preventing major damage. Luzoke’s intense beam, so bright that a dark after image traced across the vision of any who had looked at the bright white light, struck the approaching ship and blasted through the timbers. He used the beam like a huge knife, and was able to split the ship’s bow open causing the sea to rush in and quickly halt the vessel’s advance. It came to a stop less than twenty yards from the Sea Chaser and then, filling rapidly with water, slid forward and down and sunk beneath the waves.
