Bothan shrugged. “Who knows how other races think?” He leaned forward. “But I’ll tell you this, it would take a fair sized army to have even the slightest chance to take the keep directly, it bein’ at the top of a small mountain as it is. And since that’s where those Loremasters are always hiding, that leaves innocents to take the brunt of the wrath that should rightly be directed at the Circle. Bunch of spineless cowards they are, if you ask me.”
Jason thought about children in the hands of the Trellin. Images of the Rodinn children Lenai had played with and the little boy on his father’s shoulders ran through his mind. Then he saw the dagger again, descending towards its target.
“So,” he said, “what would happen if something were to happen to the Circle? Like if there wasn’t a Circle anymore?”
Bothan’s eyebrows rose. “Why, I suppose all the knowledge the Circle has been hoarding would be available to everyone. People could start governing themselves instead of bowing to the Circle.” He studied Jason. “But, lad, the Circle has been in power for centuries. They’re not just going to up and leave.”
“I guess not,” he said, going over the idea in his head. “But what if someone could get all of the other races to join together and demand that the Circle step down and give the knowledge to the people?”
“Well now, that’s an interesting idea, Jason, my boy,” Bothan said. A slow smile crossed his face. “Aye,” he nodded, “that’s a very interesting idea indeed.”
*****
Tal sat in his quarters, with Gatlor and two Warder commanders sitting across the table from him.
“Captain Gatlor, how goes the recruiting?” he asked.
“So far, we have received upwards of four thousand recruits, with more still arriving,” Gatlor said. “At the moment, we are only accepting men and women sixteen years of age and older. If we add those from thirteen to sixteen, we probably add another seven hundred, perhaps eight. We have also received pledges of aid from several other races, most notably the Ferrin and the Dokal. All told, if it were necessary to field an army today, and if the races held true to their pledges, we could probably field an army of six to seven thousand. However, recruits are still arriving. Another sixday may bring that number closer to ten thousand.”
“Very good,” Tal nodded. He turned to the Warders. “Commander Jorik, Commander Garyn, our army does us no good if we do not know at whom to point it. All of the villages that were attacked are to our south. I want scouting parties sent out across our southern borders and beyond. We must know if there is an enemy army gathering, and how big it is, if that is indeed the case.”
“Yes, High One,” the two men answered.
“And,” Tal added, “see that no scouting party has less than four soldiers. Additionally, each party should have a saiken lo with them. We know the Manarachs have made their presence known once more. A dimsai adept would give a scouting party their best chance of escape from such creatures. The Amethyst Order will be sending out hawks to assist in searching the more difficult terrain. Please coordinate your efforts with Loremaster Delani and her students.”
“We will meet with the Amethyst Loremaster and begin forming the parties at once, High One,” Commander Jorik said. The two men stood and left the room.
Tal turned to Gatlor. “So, Captain, tell me. What are your thoughts on this situation?” he asked. “Do you believe we have a war on our hands? And if so, what do you think we will be facing?”
Gatlor took a deep breath before answering. “High One,” he began, “I do believe we will soon be at war. Four villages attacked by three different races means only one thing in my mind. As to what we will face, we will only know that when we find their army. Most certainly Manarachs, Grithor, and Trellin, at the very least. There may also be other races as well, but without question, the Manarachs will be the most dangerous. Trellin are strong, but not very intelligent, and the Ruby Order should be able to find any traps set by the Grithor.” He spread his hands. “Other than that, we will have to wait for the reports from the scouting parties.”
“And the preparations?”
“Going well. The Amber and Emerald Orders are coordinating efforts to create bows and arrows, with help from the Amethyst Order for the fletching. The Obsidian and Ruby Orders are making armor and weapons. Emerald and Sapphire students are growing crops and laying up food supplies, should we find ourselves in need of them.”
“Very good.” He was hesitant about his next question, but he wanted to know the warrior’s feelings. “And what are your thoughts on the situation with Jason Bennett?”
Gatlor’s fingers drummed the table as he studied its surface. Finally, he looked up. “The situation is most confusing, High One. Loremaster Chon, while always outspoken, has never acted rashly, nor against the wishes of the Circle. I know he felt the prophecy called for Jaben’s death, but I do not understand what he hoped to accomplish by killing the boy’s father. All it appears to have done is to convince Jason Bennett that we are his enemy. If the boy is Jaben, and has the power the prophecy implies, I can only hope Loremaster Chon’s actions do not come back to plague us later.”
“Indeed, Captain,” Tal said. “I add my hopes to yours.”
*****
Lenai was numb and the healing area seemed very cold. She woke the day after speaking with the Loremasters already acutely aware of her failure to safeguard Jason Bennett. Now, to find out that she had also been used as an instrument of death directed against the very people she was sworn to serve was almost more than she could bear. She looked at the three Loremasters standing at her bedside. She knew they were waiting for her, but she didn’t know what to say. Then her eyes stopped on the Diamond Loremaster, and she knew one thing that needed to be said. She only hoped she could get the words out without losing her composure.
“Loremaster Seryn,” she said, “I am deeply sorry for your loss. I ask your forgiveness for my part in the death of your student.”
Seryn shook her head. “Lenai, no forgiveness is required. You share no fault in what was done. Please do not accept blame where none is given.”
“But had I reacted more quickly—”
“Nothing would be different,” Reyga broke in. “There was nothing you could have done.”
She started to protest, but the High One stopped her. “Lenai,” he said, “Loremaster Seryn and Loremaster Reyga are correct. Whoever did this possesses more power than any Loremaster on the Circle. Not even the most highly trained warrior could have prevented what happened. We are simply relieved that you are well once more, as much as we mourn the loss of Elira.”
Well. She looked down at the sheet. She would have laughed if there were any laughter left in her. It would be long before she was well.
If she had ever taken pride in anything, it was in her service to the Circle. Only in that service did she feel that she was, in some small way, helping to redeem the honor of her people. That honor had been stained by the rishna kel, those Shanthi who used their abilities as thieves and mercenaries and worse. Now, even here in the one human place where no one looked down on her race, her service had been tainted. She had failed to fulfill her responsibility regarding the Far Planer, and she had been the weapon that struck down one of the Diamond Order’s finest pupils. For the first time since she had left her telosh, she felt lost and unsure. She needed to get away from the eyes that accused her with sympathy rather than scorn.
“Loremaster Seryn,” she said, looking up from the sheet, “I am feeling stronger. May I be released from the healing area?”
“Not just yet. I would like you to stay for another day, perhaps two,” Seryn said. “I do not know what effect your experience may have on you.”
“Then, would it be acceptable for me to rest in my quarters? I would prefer to be alone if you would allow it.”
Seryn studied her, a look of concern clouding her features. “I understand. If you will remain in your quarters, I would have no objection.”
“I will stay in my quarters.”<
br />
“Very well. I will send someone to check on you in the morning.”
“Thank you.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed, and stood. A wave of weakness threatened to send her to her knees, but the tattered remnants of her pride forced her to remain steady. She was not as strong as she claimed, but she simply could not remain here anymore. Only in the solitude of her quarters could she allow herself to feel the full brunt of her failure. She nodded to the three Loremasters and left the room.
*****
Gatlor studied the map. A series of small discs marked areas that had already been searched. Each time a patrol reported in, he placed another disc on the map, gradually narrowing the possibilities for the location of an army. Each time he added a disc, he mentally adjusted plans for deploying the Circle’s own forces, taking into account the terrain of the remaining choices.
Patrols had been searching for four days now. Since nothing had been seen within striking distance of Lore’s Haven, the scouting parties were searching around the destroyed villages and beyond. So far, none had seen anything suspicious, let alone an entire army. He scanned the map again. There was still much left to investigate. He looked up as Commander Garyn walked in and saluted.
“Captain Gatlor, we have found the enemy army.”
“Where?”
Garyn pointed to an area between Faedor Woods and The Riftlands to the east. “Here, in the Scorched Plains.”
He looked where the commander was pointing. That would put them about ten days away from Lore’s Haven, assuming they did not use portals to show up at the gates. “How many forces?”
“By the patrol’s estimate, no more than three thousand.”
He wondered if the patrol had estimated low. “Who reported this?”
“Warder Than and Warder Cole.”
Those were two of his best. If they said three thousand, it would probably be accurate to within two hundred. With the men and women that had arrived over the last sixday, that gave Lore’s Haven a three to one advantage. Perhaps this would not be as difficult as he had initially thought.
The door opened again, admitting Commander Jorik.
“We have found the enemy army, sir,” Jorik said.
“Yes, Commander Garyn was just telling me. Perhaps this will not be the epic war we had feared.”
Jorik looked confused, but said, “Yes, sir. We appear to have them clearly outnumbered.”
“Almost three to one,” he nodded. “That is, if the estimate of three thousand is correct.”
“Three thousand, sir?”
“Yes. The estimate given by Warders Than and Cole.”
“But sir, my report is not from Warders Than or Cole,” Jorik said.
“What?” He felt his gut tightening.
“Sir, my report comes from Arden of the Amethyst Order. Her hawk found an army encampment, perhaps the same one, but her estimate puts the enemy at seven thousand.”
He was silent, one finger slowly tapping the tabletop. The Amethyst Order worked with animals, and could form links to the minds of their creatures. This allowed them to see what the animal was seeing. If the hawk had seen an army, then Arden would have seen it as well. He hoped she had just vastly overestimated the number of forces, but his warrior’s instinct told him otherwise.
“Where did Arden’s hawk find the army?”
Jorik pointed. “Three days southwest of Brayden Fenn, in Barrenrock,” he said.
That was almost two sixdays from the encampment found by the Warders. Portals or no, there was no way they were the same army. And if the girl’s estimate was correct, their forces were now evenly matched.
The door opened again. Gatlor sat back and waited for more bad news.
Revelations
Jason watched the bird circling high overhead. The yellow color told him it was a fortunewing, but it was too high for him to tell if it was the same one that seemed to be following him.
He looked at his surroundings. Bothan’s home was considerably larger than Reyga’s, and was in the middle of a forest. A warm breeze blew from the south, carrying an odd odor that Jason didn’t recognize. It seemed familiar somehow, and mildly unpleasant, but he just couldn’t place it.
He walked back into the house. He missed his dad. The initial pain that had torn at his soul was now an empty place inside, where memories of his dad occasionally tried to punch holes in the walls of his heart. A tear started, but he wiped it away quickly. Bothan said to store up the pain. Keep it for when he would face the Circle again.
He sat down in one of the padded chairs and leaned his head back. He’d had another of the dreams last night. He closed his eyes and remembered…
~~~
“Yes you do, and I’m going to teach you how to use it.”
“Why? Why do you need me? Why not just let things happen the way they’re meant to and leave it at that? Besides, how do you know I won’t just make things worse?”
“Jason, I understand your confusion, but there really is no other way. If you don’t use your power, for either side, one of two things will happen. If the Altered stay out of it, the people of this land will be at war for years. If the Altered get involved, this world could be torn apart.” She shook her head. “You must choose. No matter which side you decide to take, the results will be better than the alternatives. You can’t deny your place in this.”
“I don’t get it,” he said. “How come none of the other Altered seem to care? Why is it so much more important to you than them?”
“They don’t know about what’s going on, and…" Nyala bowed her head, staring at the ground without saying anything for several seconds. Then, in a quiet voice she said, “Because it’s my fault.” She raised her head, and he could see the pain in her eyes.
“What do you mean? What’s your fault?”
She waved her hand. “All of it. Everything you see. The way this world is now. It’s all my fault.”
“I don’t understand. How can the way the world is be your fault?”
She ran a hand through her hair. “I suppose you deserve to know. Reyga’s already told you about the Devastation, right? About the weapons that were used? The ones that created openings to other realities?”
“Yeah.”
“Well,” she said, “I was the one that created them.”
“What? You made those weapons?”
“Well, I didn’t actually design the weapons themselves. But I was the lead researcher on the team that developed the technology behind them.”
“You were… Wait a second. That would make you, like, fifteen hundred years old!”
“Pretty well preserved for my age wouldn’t you say?” she asked with a wan smile. “We’ve learned that the more dimsai ability a person has, the longer they live.”
“Wow,” he said. He wondered how strong they had to be to live that long. “So you were trying to open holes to other universes? Why?”
“That wasn’t what we were trying to do. We were trying to find a way to break down organic material. We called it protophasic technology.” She gave a bitter laugh. “Well, we figured it out all right. The only problem was that it only worked on living tissue.”
“What did it do?”
“The process essentially disintegrated organic material into its elemental components, while leaving inorganic material unharmed. When we realized it only worked on living tissue, we tried to shut down the project immediately.”
“Tried? What happened?”
“Part of our funding came from the military. Even though we’d been at peace for generations, we still kept our military strong. ‘Just in case,’ the leaders said. When the High Command found out what the technology did, they came in and took all of our research.” She shrugged. “Naturally, someone leaked it to the other side. Two years later, protophasic weapons, the ultimate clean bomb. A year after that, the Devastation.”
“How did that cause the rifts? Did your research cause any?”
“No, but our tests were
conducted on a small scale, affecting a very limited area. Nothing in our calculations pointed to anything like that.”
“Then it really isn’t your fault,” he said, “if the military took your research away. You tried to shut it down. Who knows what they might have changed?”
“I appreciate the thought, Jason, but I was the one who conceived the idea of protophasics. If I had never thought it up, the military would never have gotten their hands on it.”
He didn’t agree, but he knew he wasn’t going to be able to say anything that would change her mind if she’d been blaming herself for fifteen centuries.
“So a rift opened up and this dimsai stuff came through?”
“Yes.”
“But how come you and the other Altered are so much stronger than anyone else? Did you just learn how to use it first?”
“I suppose you could say that, at least in part. We didn’t have any choice. We had to learn, and quickly. What happened to us went far beyond just learning how to control this new power.” She laughed a little. “Ironic as it is, I became a victim of my own creation.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you really want to hear this?”
“Yes.”
“Alright,” she said, and took a deep breath. “My family had gone on a picnic with some friends of ours.”
“Family?” Jason asked. “You had kids?”
“One. A son. He was about your age when it happened. Anyway, we were out in the country when everything started. We didn’t even know the weapons had been fired until we looked up and saw one dropping toward us. We tried to run, but it was no use. We hadn’t even made it back to our vehicles when it detonated. My own invention had tracked me down.”
“What happened?”
“The weapon went off, and then the protophasic wave hit us. Even if I’d known what to expect, I wouldn’t have been prepared for it. The pain was beyond anything you can imagine. I could feel my body coming apart. I was horrified.”
From a Far Land Page 19
