by Blink, Bob
“We left them a detailed description most of the way we traveled,” Lorl objected.
“The dead zones would defeat any efforts to follow us without a working staff,” Rigo insisted. “They can’t come after us for the same reason we couldn’t go back home.” He knew Lorl wanted to hear otherwise, but the simple truth was they were on their own.
“Do you think one of the staffs these wizards carry would work to get us back?” Lorl asked after a long silence.
“There’s no way to tell at this point,” Rigo said. “The fact they were able to jump out to the oasis where we were staying doesn’t tell us much. That jump we made without the help of a staff. Even if the staffs are built to offset the Ruins, the matter remains whether we can even access the magic required. Their staffs could be based on a different approach to magic.”
Glumly, Lorl nodded his understanding. “We’re going to be here a long time, aren’t we?”
“Probably,” Rigo agreed. He didn’t want to discourage Lorl anymore, but Rigo had serious doubts they would even see the Three Kingdoms again. The loss of home pulled at him, but not nearly so much as the realization he had failed to find a solution to the problem that had brought them out here in the first place. It was likely that the Three Kingdoms would be overrun by Hoplani before too much longer, although they would never know of it.
“I wish they would leave us some water,” Lorl griped. “It’s several glass before dinner if they follow the same routine as yesterday.”
Rigo stood up without thinking and walked over to the bars. Following the approach used by the lone prisoner across the walkway, he shouted out loudly, “Crumet yana inte graviss.”
A short time later one of the guardsmen wandered in and handed one of the waterskins through the bars to Rigo. He stared at him for a moment, then wandered back out. Rigo turned and handed the skin to Lorl, who was looking at him oddly.
“How’d you do that?” he asked.
“Do what?’ Rigo asked. “I just shouted at him to get his attention. He must have guessed what we wanted.”
“No, that’s not what happened,” Ash’urn said as he walked over to join them. “You told him exactly what you wanted. I didn’t understand a word of what you said, but you obviously spoke in their language. I’ve never known you to be much of a linguist, so how did you manage that?”
Chapter 26
The Three Kingdoms
City of Sulen, Branid
Nycoh had made the unannounced trip into Sulen to visit Jeen when she was certain that the failure of Rigo’s team to appear was more than just a logistical delay. While the team had been less prone to return frequently because of the multiple jumps and time involved, they always came back for re-supply. Knowing what they had taken with them, it was easily seen that they had exceeded their provisions by several days. They could have rationed their food, or possibly even found a secondary source, but Nycoh knew that Rigo would have come back by now regardless, knowing it would have been noted at the Outpost they had exceeded the time they had planned for. He would have been aware of the worry, and while he might push it a day or so, the current absence was far too long.
“You don’t think they found something that has their interest and they simply have been reluctant to return?” Jeen asked. If the truth were known, she’d been having a disquieting feeling for several days that had burst into full concern the moment she’d seen Nycoh. Jeen had even approached Queen Mos’pera to ask if she’d had any vision regarding Rigo, but the Queen had replied that she had seen nothing regarding Rigo in a very long time. She’d had no visions about him or his team at all this time around.
“It is remotely possible,” Nycoh said, “but I don’t believe it is so. My instincts say that something has befallen them. Unfortunately, we have no way to communicate with them, nor any way to follow after them. The travel through the Ruins had become increasingly difficult, and they took both staffs.”
“Why did you allow them to take both of them?” Jeen accused. “You left us without any means to help them.”
“A poor decision perhaps,” Nycoh admitted. “Unfortunately, given the problems they had encountered, it seemed the risks were greater sending them into the distant reaches of the wilderness without the protection afforded by both staffs. Unlike before, most of the Bypass portals required a staff to initiate. Had something happened to the only staff they carried, they would have been stranded. Also unfortunate, because of the multiple jumps and the difficulties involved, they had become irregular in keeping us informed where they had gone. We have only a partial idea where they were headed when they disappeared, so even if we had the means to follow, we wouldn’t be certain where to look.”
“It is unfortunate we cannot make more of the staffs,” Jeen said wistfully.
“Rigo told me one day that he believed he knew what Daim had done to imbue them with their resistance to the Ruins, but that implementing the magic required skills and magical strength that none of us possessed. Not that it matters now. He alone had access to those memories of Daim’s.”
“I had better inform Kaler and Daria,” Jeen said unhappily. “They would want to know that Rigo is missing.”
“Perhaps we should wait a few more days. I would hate to bring them news that turns out to be premature. There is nothing they can do at this point anyway. We will be sure they know of Rigo’s loss before anyone else does.”
“What about the King and Queen? They have been placing their hopes on what Rigo’s team might find. They will need to know that hope appears lost now.”
“I wish we could tell them something has come out of our investigations at the Hoplani Farms, but that effort has been less than successful thus far.”
“Do we still have people there?”
“A small team. The attacks locally have demanded our primary attention the past two weeks. I kept a few wizards in place, in hopes of supporting Rigo as much as any hope that we will learn something useful by watching the Farms.”
“We have learned nothing then?”
“We have found no way of disabling the production. The little damage we have been able to inflict to the growing chambers in the cavern has been self-healing. Whatever magic and technology were used to create that place are far beyond what our current understanding supports. We know the Duneriders are an important part of the cycle. They monitor the growth of the beasts, and we have even seen them destroy several which we assume were judged unsatisfactory. We haven’t been able to decide what caused them to discard those animals.”
“What do they do with the corpses?”
“Those are chopped up with those swords they carry and the parts dumped down shafts in the caverns. Perhaps the bodies are recycled. No one knows how deep the shafts go or what happens down there. In one case an animal was deemed unworthy and destroyed, but the next out of the same chamber was acceptable. There is only one chamber we have discovered where every beast produced is rejected. Our people have been trying to determine what might be different in that chamber in hopes of duplicating the problem, thereby shutting down production, but thus far have had no success.”
“What about the Morvane?” Jeen asked.
“They are far fewer in number, and are clearly key in the cycle. We are certain they lead the Hoplani out of the center of the Ruins toward the borders. Several have been seen returning to the Farms alone. The Duneriders also spend a lot more time with each of the newly created Morvane, and we have discovered they implant a second crystal into the heads of the creatures. We know little about the crystals, what they do, where they come from. The Duneriders carry the crystals with them at all times, and we have never been able to discover where they obtain them.”
“If we could eliminate the Morvane, would the problem be solved?” Jeen asked.
“Possibly. Or maybe if we could eliminate the Duneriders,” Nycoh said.
“The Duneriders?” Jeen asked surprised.
“They are obviously a key element in the cycle.”
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“But they have been helpful. They even saved several of our people before, including Rigo.”
“I know,” Nycoh admitted. “There are some that claim that since they aren’t natural, they therefore might be considered expendable.”
“That’s poor repayment for what they have done for us,” Jeen noted.
“It is unlikely we would attempt such a thing. For one thing, the Farms would more than likely produce a new crop of them. We haven’t learned how it regulates production, but there are more chambers available than we have ever seen in use. There is also the matter of how they might react if we suddenly turned aggressive. We might not be able to kill them, and they might turn against us limiting our ability to continue studying the problem.”
“It sounds pretty hopeless,” Jeen agreed.
‘There are answers there, I’m certain of it. Unfortunately, it could take several lifetimes to ferret them out, and we don’t have that long. If Queen Mos’pera is right, we have less than four years. Her first child reaches maturity then.”
“Has anyone figured out why the Morvane were never seen in Daim’s time, but now are not uncommon along the border? It would seem there is an answer buried in there somewhere.”
“Several have postulated that the Rift upset some balance which has resulted in the change. Unfortunately, that’s another area where we simply lack the necessary knowledge. There are far too many areas where our ignorance is hurting us.”
After Nycoh had left, Jeen considered whether she should ignore the younger woman’s suggestion to hold off on informing Kaler and Daria. Nycoh was correct in not wanting to worry them unnecessarily, but she knew how displeased they would be if it turned out that Rigo was indeed lost, and they had been kept in the dark. She wasn’t certain which path was best.
Chapter 27
Monastery of Ald-del
Southern Kellmore
“Subprior,” Brother Yori called out far more loudly than was custom in the sacred halls of the monastery. “Wait. I must speak with you.”
Subprior Taent paused at the sound of his title, and turned to see who might be calling out to him in such an unusual and disrespectful manner. Nothing that happened at Ald-del was urgent, and to raise one’s voice in such a manner was extremely inappropriate. Most learned that in their early years to restrain themselves, when for an extended period novices were forbidden to speak at all. Those who couldn’t adapt, were usually urged to seek their own sanctuary for contemplation elsewhere.
As always, Subprior Taent wore the standard uniform of the priests here. His tan frock with the purple sash that marked his position was somewhat worn and frayed. He could have used a newer frock, but the worn cloth was one way he showed his piety. His hair, now fully gray, was worn in the usual ponytail that hung down his back, the side trimmed properly short, as was the custom here. He spotted Brother Yori hurrying in his direction, and a brief grimace of distaste formed on his lips.
He disliked dealing with brother Yori. The younger priest was a man of great ability. He was a second level scholar who had proven his insight over the years he had been at the monastery. The only reason Brother Yori had not been elevated to first level was because the Archimandrite had a personal dislike for the man. The dislike stemmed from events that took place more than a decade ago, when Brother Yori helped an outsider investigate an unusual interest. That investigation ultimately saw the visitor and his party become instrumental in the revelations that magic and the wizards that practiced the forbidden art existed in fact, and not just in the stories of certain books. The revelations had been an embarrassment to the order, which had long maintained that such beliefs were false, and contrary to the teachings of the faithful. Now, magic was an accepted force within the kingdom, and the priests still struggled with the impact on their basic beliefs. The Archimandrite held that if Brother Yori had been a little less diligent in his efforts, the whole matter might had faded away leaving matters in the more happy state they had been. As a result, brother Yori was viewed unfavorably within the order. He was normally assigned side duties of an undesirable nature. Subprior Taent had to admit that brother Yori had accepted the duties, and the rebuke they reflected, stoically and with grace.
“Brother Yori,” the Subprior said formally with a lowered tone as was more appropriate to their surroundings when the scholarly priest approached near enough they could converse in a civilized manner. All trace of his distaste was now gone from his face, and he fixed the younger man with an accusing stare, which the other overlooked in his impatience to speak with the Subprior. “What may I assist you with?” Subprior Taent asked.
“There is something that you must see,” Brother Yori said, his voice now at a more reasonable level, and one that others even a short distance would have trouble overhearing.
“What could be so important that you must shout, disturbing the contemplation of our fellow priests?” Taent asked, hoping to elicit at least a small amount of guilt from the man. The effort was wasted, as Brother Yori was too focused on whatever had disturbed him.
“I cannot explain it easily. It would be best if you could accompany me into the dungeon so I could show you.”
The dungeon? The dungeon was an underground storage, deliberately held separate from the bulk of the reference materials and historical artifacts available for study at the monastery. None of them were certain why it was termed the dungeon, although Taent suspected that Brother Yori would be one of those who felt the name was appropriate, as materials and ideas that were felt inappropriate or which conflicted with the beliefs of the order were held hostage down there. It had been one of Brother Yori’s tasks of atonement to move all materials regarding magic in the monastery to the dungeon some years ago, and oversee all the materials stored in that dark and foreboding place. As much as anything, Brother Yori was to keep the materials out of the hands of even his fellow priests.
Subprior Taent had not been down there for years, and if the truth was known, the place made him nervous. That had long been the case, but after witnessing the power of magic firsthand, and knowing some of the hidden artifacts down there were magic in origin, he feared what horrors disturbing them might release. Both he and the Prior were of a like mind, and would have seen the whole contents dumped into Lake Duir, a ride of a glass or two away. The Lake was deep and murky, and they would be shed of the devices and texts. Unfortunately, the Archimandrite had forbidden such a course. Taent couldn’t decide if he was concerned that such an action might trigger some reprisal, or whether he wished to ensure no one would ever stumble upon the devices. Outside of the three leaders of the monastery and Brother Yori, no one ever ventured down into the chamber below that section of the facilities.
“I cannot imagine anything in the dungeons that would require my attention,” Subprior Taent replied stiffly. “The items down there are to be stored and left alone. You have not been pursuing some personal line of study that has led to this situation, have you?”
Brother Yori was quick to deny the allegation. “I have done nothing beyond what my duties require,” he said. “I haven’t been in the lower levels for many weeks. It was only because there were several texts, very ancient appearing texts I might add,” he said wistfully, “that came into the monastery with the recent shipment. Several scrolls were deemed inappropriate by the Sacrist and only because I was ordered to relocate them to the lower levels that I was there at all.”
“Is there something in one of these texts that has caused you to react this way?” Subprior Taent asked. “Perhaps a meeting with the Sacrist is more appropriate.”
“It is not the new items at all,” brother Yori explained. “One of the artifacts, something that has been there the entire time I’ve been watching the secret catacombs is active. I only discovered it by accident. It was stored in such a manner that one could not tell until I had to move it to make room for the new items. I checked the inventory. The artifact has been stored below levels for more than a thousand years.”
“It is highly unlikely that anything relating to this object can be of any urgency then, can there?” the Subprior asked.
“That is for you and the Archimandrite to judge,” Brother Yori replied. “I believe it might be very important. Please, you must come.”
The Subprior sighed. It was obvious that Brother Yori was not to be put off. He was going to have to go down into that dark and dusty and unsettling place. There was no one junior to him who was authorized to go there, and if he raised the matter with the Prior or Archimandrite, they would simply order him to check the matter out. It was easy for them to send someone else down there.
“Show me,” he said reluctantly.
Brother Yori smiled and started off, leading the way back to the circular stairs that would see them into the lower levels.
The only entrance to the lower levels of the dungeon required passage into the restricted section of the monastery where the top officials of the order had their offices. In a back corner, in full view of both the Prior and Subprior, was the top of the spiral stone steps that led downward. The location was yet another way of restricting access, because anyone wishing to venture down into the storage area would have to risk being observed. Almost never were all three of the top officials out of the area simultaneously.
Brother Yori reached for the torch and used his flint to light the end, then led the way, taking the first cautious steps down the old and poorly formed steps. They had to work their way downward a considerable distance before they reached the first level. The torch hanging on the wall was burning here, showing that Brother Yori had left in haste without extinguishing the flame. The flickering light showed the stacks of books and scrolls along the righthand walls, and a number of unidentified objects stored on shelves to the left.
“Where?” the Subprior asked.
“It is on the lowest level,” Brother Yori said.
