by Bob Blink
“Spiders,” he yelled as he got close enough for them to hear.
Jolan looked more closely at the scurrying mass on the beach. Soon he could see that it represented hundreds of the massive spiders like the one the spiritual man had had on his hat.
Asari finally ran up to where they waited and turned to point at the approaching arachnids. “There are thousands of them,” he said.
He wasn’t exaggerating. They continued to pour out of the trees and onto the beach. Shyar let loose with a wave of Rolling Fire, which burned large swaths through the approaching spiders. They died by the hundreds, but more kept coming, crawling over the charred remains of their kindred. She released a couple more massive blasts, that cleared them for more than a hundred yards, but it would only be a matter of time before the approaching swarm reclaimed the burning beach. Jolan didn’t see any point in trying to help. Shyar’s blasts were far stronger than anything he could manage, and they were only yielding a temporary respite from the clawing creatures.
They could build barriers to keep the creatures out, but they quickly agreed this was not a desirable place to stay. They grabbed their belongings, hurried to the canoe, and pushed off from shore. The advancing horde made it to the water’s edge before they were fifty yards from shore. Several of the spiders advanced directly into the water, but soon reappeared on the sand. As they paddled away, they could see that more of the creatures continued to pour out of the forest onto the beach.
A mile farther on they came to a small sliver of beach that rose out of the lake a short distance away from shore. It was less than a foot above the lake at its highest point, and was less than ten feet wide by fifty long. Nothing grew on the small sand bar, but it was safe from small creatures like the spiders. It was getting late and they needed a place to stay so they pulled in and set up camp. Asari and Jolan made a quick trip to shore and filled the boat with firewood and then returned. They didn’t see anymore of the creatures on the land either, but Jolan was glad to have the protective band of water between them. They would have to be very careful once they left the lake behind.
After a peaceful night the trio woke to an early morning and prepared to break camp. Jolan kept scratching at his left hand which itched annoyingly for some reason. When the light got a bit better he was surprised to find a small red patch an inch forward of his wrist with a small whitish, pus-filled crater in the center. Something had bitten him. He noticed that Asari was scratching as well, and asked to see his hands. The same distinctive marks were on both of Asari’s hands. He had been bitten at least a half dozen times. He showed Asari his own mark.
“Something got us,” he said. “I can’t remember it happening. How about you Shyar?”
She had come over to examine the wounds when she saw them comparing hands. She showed them her own which were free of marks.
“It must have happened when we went over to the shore to get the wood,” Asari said. “That’s the only place we have been that Shyar hasn’t.”
“Let’s see what we can do about them,” Jolan said as he grabbed onto Asari’s wrist and watched as the magic flared from the ring. After a moment watching the blue bands of light from the ring circle his friend’s wrists, Jolan could see that the redness was gone, along with all signs of the bites.
Jolan pulled off the ring and handed it to Shyar. He couldn’t work it on himself. She put it on and repeated the process on Jolan, and soon all sign of the bite was gone, as was the terrible itch that had become annoying. Shyar handed back the ring, and they proceeded to break camp.
Soon they were back on the water and headed north. This morning should end the water portion of their journey, and they would be back to making their way across the land. The sides of the lake were becoming distinctly rocky and a bit less heavily forested. It would mean they would probably be climbing, but would be spared being so closely crowded by the thick vegetation. As they rowed, Jolan periodically looked down at his hand, but saw nothing. He was certain it still itched, but it must be some residual sensitivity of the nerves, because nothing showed on the skin. He watched Asari, but his friend showed no signs of being bothered by a residual itch and, with nothing showing, Jolan couldn’t see anything to gain by complaining about it.
Early afternoon brought them to the north shore. After a bit of searching they found a spot where they could beach the canoe safely, and which would make a good camp on their return. With most of the afternoon remaining, they couldn’t see wasting the time setting up camp now, so they would continue on. Asari was increasingly anxious to move forward, almost as if he was being drawn somewhere.
Jolan was more than happy to break for camp when they found a likely spot several hours up the trail. He felt a bit light headed and wobbly, and mentioned the fact to Shyar and Asari. Asari claimed he was fine, and Shyar looked once again at his hand which seemed fully cured. She even made another attempt with the ring, but it seemed unable to find anything either and remained dormant.
Jolan let the others do most of the work this time and fell asleep early. In the morning, they found him bathed in sweat, his eyes clamped shut in pain. He couldn’t speak and seemed to be shivering violently. Another attempt with the ring produced no results, which left them at a loss as to how to proceed. They had expected that a combination of their magic and the curative powers of the ring would be all the protection they would need. Shyar composed a note to the Captain of the Wave Runner, just in case he or one of the officers on board had any familiarity with the disease or had anything on board that might work to cure him. An hour later, during which time Jolan deteriorated noticeably, they found a small vial of medicine with a note saying this was all they had, and that it helped some of the diseases they ran across, but no one was familiar with the specific signs she had described. Quickly she made a cup of warm water and mixed in the potion and got as much down Jolan’s throat as possible.
An hour later it didn’t appear to have helped, and Jolan’s breathing was becoming labored. Two hours later and it was clear the potion was not helping. By then Jolan was barely breathing, and it was clear that he couldn’t last much longer. His time was measured in hours, perhaps less than one, and there was no way to take him anywhere that would help. An agitated Shyar suddenly stood and motioned for Asari to move away from Jolan’s side. Suddenly a very large box appeared along side Jolan.
“That looks just like a Mage’s Box,” Asari said surprised.
“That’s what it is,” Shyar said.
“I thought only Jolan could make one of those.”
“He showed us all a long time ago, but when no one else was able, it seemed appropriate to let it seem a mystery and allow him to be the only one able to do so. Now I think we need it.”
“I’ve never seen one so big,” Asari said marveling at the sheer size of the object.
“It’s a matter of power. With the staff Jolan gave me, I’m more powerful than he was even when he had his staff and the amplifier. That allows me to make such a large box, which is very fortunate.”
Shyar lifted the lid and carefully set it off to one side. “Help me lift him,” she said.
“You’re going to put him inside?” Asari asked. “Is that safe?”
“I hope so. I can’t see why not. Besides, there is no other choice. He is dying, and there is nothing we can do for him here. There is no way to get him where someone might be able to help him. Inside the box, time will stop for him and we can seek help.”
While she explained this objectively, Asari could see the tears in her eyes. She didn’t hold out much hope for Jolan.
Together they lifted their unconscious friend into the box, and then she gently replaced the lid.
“How can we carry him?” Asari asked.
“We can’t. He will have to stay here until we can get help.”
“Here?” Asari said, looking around at the forest.
“The box is anchored. Besides, do you know of anyone who can open a Mage’s Box other than the creator, or anyt
hing that can harm one? He will wait here fully protected.”
“Which way do we go? We can press on. I think our destination is only a day away. Maybe there is something there that can help. Or do we try and get help from the tribesmen? They might know something of the bite and how to cure it.”
“Despite how anxious I feel, Jolan is in no immediate danger so long as he is protected by the Mage’s Box. He can wait a day or a year until we find someone who knows of the bite. It is odd that it didn’t affect you, and you were bitten more times. Maybe someone can use that fact. Since we are close to the end of our journey, let’s go on. Maybe you are right about the answers being there, and even Tishe sensed it was important for us to complete this task. If we find nothing is there, or at least nothing to help Jolan, we will seek out the tribesmen, and if not them we will get some of the crew to help bring him back to the ship. If need be, we will take him all the way home protected inside the box.”
Chapter 169
“It sounds as though things are not going very well,” Queen Sayusta said shortly after the private session with Chancellor Vaen and Major Wylan had gotten off to its late start.
Vaen looked over at Wylan, who nodded that she might as well go first.
“Cheurt and his people are certainly becoming bolder,” she agreed. “After watching them for almost two months, we are convinced the breach was not as bad as feared, but they are certainly comfortable with the portal system, and have even taken to letting us know they are watching us.”
“How are they doing that?” the Queen asked.
“On more than one occasion they have opened a portal shortly after we have just finished with it. As far as we can tell they didn’t send anyone through, but it can’t be coincidence that they open the exact portal we have just used only a few moments later. If it was Buris, I’d say he was using the peeking function to see what was going on, but Ronoron didn’t have any knowledge of that function, so we don’t think that Ale’ald knows how to do it either.”
“They have been making exploratory trips through the portals more often from notes you have sent me,” the Queen stated.
Vaen nodded. “We are certain they have penetrated Ygooro. The portal was opened last week, and when we later checked, the explosives had been triggered, but there was no sign of blood or bodies. Ale’ald’s new shielded traids are probably the reason for that. We sent a crew in and they discovered the hidden passageway that leads back to the library had been uncovered, so it is likely they explored the entire area. They had the portal open for almost ten hours, so they had sufficient time. That means they know we were there, but we are quite certain there was nothing left for them to discover. Our teams put a great deal of effort into clearing out everything.”
“What exactly are these triads? I’ve heard reference to them several times now.”
“Jolan first encountered a triad earlier this year when he and Tishe destroyed most of their fleet. Ale’ald has discovered a means of bonding three wizards into a shared group. The result is a very powerful entity, operating as a single powerful wizard. Depending on the power of the wizards that form the triad, the resulting entity can have the effective power of an eight or a nine, and is able to operate at ranges far greater than we have seen before.”
“And we don’t know how this is done?”
“No, and it is worrisome. In the beginning, it seemed these triads were a rare thing, but suddenly we are seeing them everywhere. None of our mages can stand up to them singly, and even in groups there have been problems dealing with them. Add to that, they are often seen within the new barriers, which makes them difficult to attack even with the coppered projectiles that have been so effective up to now.”
“What are these barriers?”
“They are made from angled slats plated with hardened metal. The triad operates from the inside, and uses optical devices with mirrors and lenses to allow them to see over the top without exposing themselves. This allows them to move around and to cast spells while being fully hidden behind the barrier. The barrier deflects most of the bullets, including the very high power rounds that Jolan brought from Earth, unless these are fired from a close enough range. We have had one instance where these rounds have been able to penetrate and kill the wizards inside.”
The Queen glanced up at her, indicating she wanted to know more.
“Ale’ald sent a couple of groups into our two main portals here at the College last week, which is very disconcerting. The first group suddenly appeared at the Buris portal. It was a triad, and they walked out into the room. Buris thinks they expected to trigger one of the explosions and were surprised to discover themselves surrounded by armed men. They were probably equally shocked to discover that they couldn’t execute any magic. Unfortunately they recovered quickly. The few spells launched against them by our mages waiting outside the nulled area were too weak to damage their shields, which were already in place when they came through. The triad was able to quickly slip back through the portal and disappear.”
“So you were unable to stop them?”
“Not that time, but Buris alerted Morin at the primary portal, and we were ready in case it happened there, which it did two days later. This time Morin had a team present with one of the sniper rifles, and Buris was keyed to shut down the portal they had used to arrive from as soon as they entered. Since they couldn’t execute any spells, they couldn’t reopen it, and the rifle was able to break through the barrier and kill one of the wizards inside destroying the triad. That made them vulnerable to our mages and their magic. Another was killed in the minutes that followed. We hoped to capture the remaining wizard for interrogation, but when he seemingly surrendered, a few moments later he suddenly keeled over dead. He ingested some kind of poison that took only a minute or two to work. It is something to watch for next time. We will have to incapacitate any wizards we capture until we can check them for the poison.”
“Obviously they are learning. What happens if they send dozens of wizards through at once?”
“Since they don’t appear to know how to lock the portal open for large groups, they can only come a few at a time. This gives us a bit of an advantage, but we share your concern. If one of the triads was able to get outside the deadened zone, their magic would make them almost impossible to deal with.”
“Several weeks ago you mentioned that some of your researchers thought there might be a way to permanently disable some or all of the portals. Has there been any progress with that?”
Nerila and Rifod believe the control area is located somewhere in Tilano. Altz is continuing to investigate the materials we brought from Ygooro. Nerila has had an eventful month by the way. She finally turned to a level five and just last week she delivered twins, so both she and Rifod are temporarily unavailable for further investigations. They are the most effective investigators we have, so their being sidelined is a real loss, but they have lives to live as well as any others.”
“Has anyone physically gone to Tilano to check? Maybe we could find it rather than simply look through old records.”
“No,” Vaen replied. “It is far too risky. For one thing, we spent a great deal of time in Tilano examining the ruins. While we didn’t know what to look for, nothing that seems like it would be related was discovered. Further, it seems that Ale’ald is unaware of the Tilano portals, and the only way we can reasonably get people there would be to activate one of them. That would make the addresses known to Ale’ald. With the Nexus hidden away there, we don’t want to give them anything that hints the place exists.”
The Queen shook her head. “It doesn’t seem that we are in a very desirable position. What about Jolan and his team? Has that silly trip to the far side of the Settled Lands yielded anything we can use?”
“The last we heard, they were on the lake down there within a week of the planned destination. Within a few days we should know if they found anything. It will, of course, be months before they can make the return trip with any discoverie
s.”
“Fortunately winter is not that far away,” the Queen said. “Maybe that will give us a bit of time to get prepared.”
“Actually, I fear the winter will be to Ale’ald’s advantage more than our own,” Vaen said sadly.
“Yes. So you’ve said in the past. Wylan, what bad news do you have for me?”
Wylan grimaced and mumbled something to himself. “Much of the news is bad as you already suspect. Three members of Seret’s ruling Parliament have been assassinated in the last two weeks. We still don’t know how anyone got to two of them, other than magic was clearly used. The third was taken out in full daylight by one of the dragoncursed triads. No nearby portals had been activated for days, so the triad was either in place for a long time or slipped in from farther away and made their way into Seret. Needless to say the remaining members are quite nervous, and steps have been taken to relocate them to undisclosed locations.”
“What about Queen Iril?”
“No attempts have been made on her, but she is far more carefully guarded. Thought has been given to relocating her and, maintaining contact via radio, which would be impossible for Ale’ald to trace.”
“What else?”
“We have lost four covert teams and two in country networks in the past days. It shows how dangerous it is becoming to use any of the portals within the occupied territories. Ale’ald seems to be watching all of the portals they can find, even if they haven’t been activated anytime since they started watching. Each of the lost teams used a portal we thought was secure and which had never been used before. We can only assume they were intercepted on arrival.”
“What can you do?”
“At the moment it is starting to look like we will have to revert to the old method of getting people into place. That means weeks of effort and all the risks of trying to slip into the country. It is going to seriously hinder any operations we hoped to mount.”
