by Bob Blink
He nodded to the triad. “Find Jolan and kill him,” he commanded. Then he stepped onto the platform and without hesitation executed the spell to take him to Earth. As he vanished from sight, the triad leader turned and motioned to the others to follow him.
Chapter 185
Cheurt wobbled a bit as the small patch of grass appeared under his feet. It had been some time since he’d been here, but the area was immediately familiar. The house where Jolan had once lived was there, although it looked like someone had changed the color for some reason. But everything else looked the same. “He’d made it!” he grinned to himself. Now to see if what Denelere had overheard was right.
The weakness caused by the Dragon Magic still limited his abilities. Had it not been for the amplifier device he stole from Jolan, he’d not have had the power to access the node and make the trip, even with the far more powerful node that had been hidden in the cave he hadn’t known existed until today. Now that he was here, he could look forward to finally recovering from the Dragon Cursed poison in his system.
He could still feel the node pulsing behind him. Maybe he should get away from here just in case someone tried to follow. He thought it unlikely because there had appeared to only be the one old mage trying to hurry and shut the Nexus down. Eventually they would discover what he had done, and then they might try and come after him. By then he’d be hidden and besides, he was the only one with power here thanks to Jolan’s amplifier. He also remembered a lot about this place. He could blend in easily enough.
There. Suddenly he could feel fluctuations in the node. He stepped quickly away, reaching for the amplifier in case he’d need to draw on the power. Anyone who followed him here would be at a severe disadvantage. As he backed away he could feel the fields twist and convulse, and then suddenly die away. He looked at the Nexus startled. How had this happened? He’d thought there was no one else in the chamber, but he must have been wrong. Someone else must have been there to be able to shut the Nexus down so soon after he made the trip. He walked back, but there was nothing. Jolan must had done it. Now he was suddenly worried. If Jolan had wanted him to make the trip, then he must be mistaken about what would happen on Earth. Perhaps coming here had not been the right move.
“Welcome Cheurt,” said a voice behind him.
He turned quickly, hand grasping the amplifier ready to draw on the power.
“You!” he exclaimed, surprised to see the young man he’d come to know over the past couple of years. “You can’t possibly be here. You have no ability with the power.”
“There are a quite few things you don’t know,” Asari said quietly as he stood a few feet away, calmly holding the .22 magnum pistol Gene had given him to use for this specific encounter. There were no longer any serial numbers on this gun, so he could safely toss it once this was over and it would never be traced to anyone. Magic had seen to the removal of the numbers and, even if Gene was safe on Gaea, there were reasons it mattered that the police never connect him to the pistol. The pistol was ready to be fired, and he could raise and fire it very quickly. He wasn’t in a hurry, however. He’d waited far too long for this moment, and intended to make the most of it. “Jolan sends his regards,” Asari said mockingly.
Cheurt had no time for this. He clutched the amplifier and began to draw as deeply as he could of the power. Given the conditions here on earth it would be miniscule compared to what he was used to, but still enough to wipe this annoyance from existence. He suspected the pistol was loaded with bullets coated with copper, but it was too late for the young man. He should have fired when Cheurt first appeared, before he was aware of Asari’s presence.
In a bright burst of light, the amplifier released a bundled blast of energy with a sharp clap of noise, blowing the device into dozens of pieces, and blasting away Cheurt’s left hand at the same time. He screamed in surprise, and clutched the stump that was leaking blood into the ground.
Asari winced. “I’ll bet that hurts,” he said unkindly. “Jolan said there were subtle differences in the fields between here and Gaea. That’s why his great great-grandfather’s device had never worked properly. With the power Jolan’s modification can support, it’s essential you throw the little switch to prevent an overload. Guess you didn’t know that, huh?”
“I’ll still win,” Cheurt hissed, confident this one human who couldn’t touch the power could not really stop him. “Now that I’m free of the Dragon’s Magic, I’ll quickly regain my strength.”
“Fool,” Asari asserted. “Your coming here was your death warrant. You would have recovered on Gaea.
A sudden fear struck Cheurt. He’d suspected something was wrong when the fields of the Nexus shut down behind him. “What do you mean?” he asked with a hint of dread.
“Jolan tricked you. With the amplifier on Gaea, you would have recovered in another month or so. Your inherent strength plus the added draw with the device would have overwhelmed the Dragon’s technology. But here, well here is different. The magic of Gaea works poorly here. The Dragon’s energy is different, and is actually well tuned to Earth. It works just fine on either world. So now what the Dragon’s weapon did to you has the upper hand, and within a few weeks at most it will kill you.”
“I don’t believe you,” Cheurt said, the pain in his hand nearly unbearable. As he said it he knew he wasn’t at all confident.
“It doesn’t matter. I only told you so you’d know you did this to yourself before you died. I owe you for my father. I owe you for the Dragons, who were my friends. Jolan once promised he’d give me a chance to even the score. Jolan keeps his promises.”
Cheurt saw the young man’s hand start to move. Faster than he’d thought possible the pistol came up and Asari fired twice in rapid succession. Cheurt tried to raise shields, even though it probably wouldn’t have mattered. The two slugs took him in the face, penetrating into his brain. His legs unable to support him, he crumbled to the ground, dead before he came to rest.
Asari looked at the wizard that he’d sought so long. He should have shot the man in the chest as he’d been trained, but that hadn’t worked before and at this range he wasn’t going to miss. The two shots hadn’t made much noise. That was the reason for the .22. Asari would have rather used the Wilson .45 which he was very familiar with, but he’d agreed to leave it behind. The simple silencer that Gene had made for the small pistol had worked as well as Gene had said, although he’d been warned it would degrade quickly with use. It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t be using it again.
He reached down and gathered up the pieces of the amplifier. He also slipped two rings off of Cheurt’s fingers. He put these in his pockets. Then he reached down and slipped his arms under Cheurt and lifted the wizard up over his shoulders. The man was actually lighter than Asari would have thought. There wasn’t much blood from the two small holes, and as he walked away with the wizard on his back he left little evidence that anything had happened here. He took Cheurt into the barn and dropped him on the floor of the far stall where Jolan and he had prepared for this. The hidden area where Jolan had stashed his money months before now waited for the body. After raising the hidden hatch, he rolled Cheurt over the side and then climbed down inside where he used the waiting shovel to scoope dirt over him. He also buried the pistol in the hole after pulling the magazine and ejecting the round from the chamber. There were no fingerprints to worry about as Asari still wore the thin rubbery gloves that Jolan had given him.
Soon he stood above the hole once again, and lowered the hatch. He spread the dirt and hay over the floor, concealing the hatch once again. Now all he needed to do was walk away and fit into the life that they had set up for him a few days ago. Gene’s dad would be helping him, a last request Gene had made of the man when they’d met a couple of days ago.
Jolan had shown him what to do afterwards to lose the last of the evidence. He would do fine here on this world. There was nothing left on Gaea. Jolan and Shyar would be busy for a long time setting things right.
All his friends there were mages. As close as they were, he never could be one of them. His friends the dragons were gone. Here was a world he could fit into. He could fly and explore. He’d miss them of course. Maybe more than he was prepared for. But he’d thought it through carefully before he’d raised the matter with Jolan. Besides, he’d wanted to be there for Cheurt’s end. The man had a way of slipping away, and Asari had wanted to be sure.
He tossed the gloves in the gutter a block away and continued his way into town. He had a key to the hotel room they had rented. Tomorrow he would start looking for a place to live.
Chapter 186
The triad had barely taken a step back towards the entrance when Jolan triggered the heavy dragon weapon, sending a blast of the deadly energy into the three wizards causing them to tumble to the ground dead. Three more dead. The number of Ale’ald wizards remaining had to be very small. The weapon was a heavy load, but Jolan had chosen his spot in among the equipment that powered the Nexus carefully. In addition to providing concealment, and he suspected protection against the energies the triad might release if they discovered him, it also had provided a rest for the front of the device and all he’d needed to do was slowly rotate the rear portion to take aim.
A bit earlier he’d considered once again the possibility of ending the matter here once and for all. It had seemed that he should be able to shoot Cheurt and the triad before they would be able to react against him. He would have had to decide whether to shoot Cheurt first, since he was the primary target, or target the three supporting wizards, leaving just the two of them to the end. He’d made his decision, but in the end this plan had been carefully thought out. Cheurt was surprisingly resilient and seemed to always have a backup plan. Making an attempt on him at the last minute might upset their carefully laid plan, something they only had one shot at attempting. If they could get him to Earth, then he was a dead man. Even if Asari didn’t manage to kill him, a couple of weeks without the amplifier would end it. In the end, he stuck with the agreed upon approach. Besides, he owed Asari the chance to take the wizard down. He had promised him a long time ago he would help him do that, and it pleased him he was finally able to deliver.
Letting the weapon rest on top of the unit he’d been using for a support, Jolan pulled out his Kimber .45 and held it loosely in his right hand where it would be ready in an instant if he needed it. He turned and moved over to the unit that Iach-Iss had shown him the last time they were here. All that was required was for Jolan to press a single control node. He had already entered the command he’d memorized that removed the protection around the controls.
For a moment he hesitated. Maybe he didn’t need to close the Nexus and he could go and check on Asari and Cheurt. Perhaps he could leave the pathway to Earth open. He sighed. Cheurt was there, and he needed to be certain he had no path back, just in case. Equally important, he’d given his word to the dragon that the Nexus would be closed. Iach-Iss feared what continued contamination would do to Gaea. With a deep sadness caused by the knowledge he’d never see Asari again, his first friend on this world, he let his fingers fall onto the node. The color disappeared from the spot, and Jolan could feel the forces that drove the Nexus fade away.
It was done. He hoped it was for the best, because there was no going back now. There would be no more trips to Earth. He was now a Gaean, and Asari was now an Earthling. He wished his friend well. He had prepared him as best he could, giving him a pairing-crystal of information and knowledge about the world. Gene had arranged through his father to see that Asari was finacially well off and to help him get settled. They had decided not to tell Janie about Asari’s staying on Earth. Since he would be killing Cheurt in her backyard, it would be best if she could be totally open and innocent of who might have committed the deed. Jolan suspected he would get the blame, not that it mattered.
His main task completed, Jolan made his way out from behind the equipment with his pistol ready. He carefully checked each of the wizards to be certain they were dead. Only then did he completely relax. He looked around the room, then back at the equipment. All of the lights had finally faded away, showing the units were all powered down for the first time in many thousands of years. The dragons did indeed build well.
He walked over to where Altz had fallen. There was little other than a small dusting of gray ash. The mage had known he wouldn’t survive his little act, but he had suggested the plan. He had wanted to die, and this was a quick and painless way. The experiment he had embarked on so many years ago using a drop of Vaen’s blood had bought him almost double the normal lifespan, but in the end there was no stopping the sudden failing of his body. The past couple of weeks he’d been in almost continuous pain, and the drugs that Gene had acquired on Earth the past week only bought him an hour or two of relief and were rapidly losing their effect. He would have died within another month anyway, and it wouldn’t have been a pleasant way to go. Jolan owed Altz a debt he’d never fully repaid. The man had made his own ultimate advancement to mage possible. Without him, he might never have made it to the Council of Mages.
Jolan walked back over and picked up the dragon blaster, and walked back to the mini-portal. The blaster would still be needed. Even with Cheurt gone, there were others they would need to seek out and kill or permanently separate from the power. It would be years before the Settled Lands recovered from the battles that had been fought, and those it still had to fight, but the outcome was now certain. Out on the platform, the snow was starting to come down heavily. He walked through the inches deep layer toward the portal, looking out at the city of Tilano in the background. He recalled when it had first been uncovered. Maybe they could restore it some day. That was for later. The portal was still active. They hadn’t wanted to take any action that would alert Cheurt to how closely the place was being watched. He stepped inside and exited back in the portal room in Cobalo.
* * * *
“It’s done?” Vaen asked unnecessarily as Jolan and Shyar stepped into her office. That he had returned said enough.
Jolan nodded. “Cheurt crossed over to Earth after his triad killed Altz. After he was gone I killed the triad and then shut down the Nexus. Gaea is now truly on its own.”
Vaen took the death of her relative well. She knew he had reached the end. His sacrifice had been a last act that helped to atone for some things he had done in the past. “Asari stayed on Earth?” she finally asked.
Once again Jolan felt a deep loss and sadness. “Yes. That was what he wanted. Asari is a bit of an adventurer. He has seen most of Gaea, probably more than almost anyone in the Settled Lands.” He hadn’t seen it all, Jolan thought as he spoke, thinking of the orbital picture that Iach-Iss had privately shown Jolan of the far side of the planet. There were several major continents worthy of exploration. “He’s now got a whole new planet to explore.”
“I’m still surprised to see him go.”
“He lost his dragons, and he always felt a bit outside the group, despite everything. Everyone else is a mage, while Asari has no talent with the power. We are going to be occupied with rebuilding the world, and while he would have had a place in that, he was always one to choose his own way. I’m going to miss him more than I can say, but I can’t help thinking he might have made the right choice.”
Vaen looked at Jolan for a long time trying to decide how her friend would deal with the loss of his companion. She was very glad Jolan had Shyar. Otherwise, she would fear for his well being.
Finally she said, “Denelere still hasn’t shown up. I doubt she will after so long.”
“She probably knew that we would suspect her. When the triad fails to return, they will have to know something happened and it was probably an elaborate trap after all.”
“Perhaps. Maybe she will turn up in time. If so we will deal with her. It was very fortunate that we happened upon those several instances where she seemed to be at the heart of things. I was uncomfortable about her in the past, but somehow the matter was dropped.�
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“Long ago the Queen’s brother had wondered about her when his father was still King. I had forgotten that until you began a quite careful screening of everyone with certain levels of contact in the Inner Court after the triad attempted to kill the dragons.”
Once they had discovered that Denelere had too frequent access to information that had been compromised in the past, their plan had been hatched. It wasn’t a sure thing, but they had carefully set the stage so she would overhear Jolan and Vaen in the halls discussing a falsified story of what awaited Cheurt. When she had slipped away, they were certain the word would get back to him. They had chosen not to follow her, since it was unlikely that she would go to Cheurt directly, and if they were discovered, the effort would have fallen apart. In the end, it had worked.
“And now?” Vaen asked.
“We need to keep going. Winter will slow most efforts for a time. It will give us an opportunity to prepare for spring. The skimmers will supply and build up the resistance, and Wylan will have his armies prepare for the assaults when the weather clears. There will still be some fierce fighting, but Ale’ald doesn’t have the resources to continue. The rulers in their capital have always simply been a front for the wizards. With the Academy gone, they might even surrender without a battle. Other than hunting down a few renegade wizards, by this time next year I suspect the worst will be over.”
