by C. Gold
“What’s happening?” Radcliff asked even though he could guess.
“Everyone had to pull back, those things are literally climbing the walls.”
Radcliff turned to Candlass. “Gather the notes. It’s time.”
“I’ll go collect our things,” Amira said.
“Take Kaholo with you.” Radcliff didn’t want her going alone, especially without her weapons. While Candlass picked up the scattered notes, he sorted through the books, touching each one reverently. How did you pick what to leave and what to take? It was staggering to think of how much knowledge would soon be lost. He settled on the four oldest tomes and had to walk out of the room before he was tempted to grab more. Candlass joined him. It wasn’t long before Amira and Kaholo came rushing back. She had both bags, the staff, and the dagger. Kaholo had his spear.
They rushed down the halls as Kaholo filled them in on the battle. The defenders put up a valiant fight, able to repel all the strange mutations the enemy came up with. But slowly that black ooze ate through the wall. Kaholo shook his head and said, “Can you believe it?”
Candlass replied in typical scholarly fashion. “There are several compounds that can dissolve rock at varying speeds.”
Kaholo waved his free arm around. “But this was so thick. Anyway, once they latched onto the shield, the emperor ordered everyone in and sealed us up good and tight.” Kaholo paused his narration and then became more subdued. “You can get us out, right?”
“That’s the plan,” Radcliff said as they entered the central chamber in the heart of the volcano. It was hard to miss the huge stone structure occupying the middle of the room. Eight spires were placed at each compass direction and stretched outward then inward again to form an elliptical framework. Runes engraved in pure silver on the inner and outer surfaces of each spire sparkled in the lamp light.
“It’s beautiful,” Candlass observed.
Radcliff could hear the awe in his voice. He had to agree, it was magnificent. Grander than he’d imagined it would be. Five of the emperor’s personal guards were looking everything over. He walked over and asked, “Is it complete?”
“Yes,” the tallest one replied. “We are just doing a final visual inspection, then we’ll join the emperor and help keep the shield up.”
“Has it weakened yet?” Candlass asked.
“No, he’s holding it for now. But soon he’ll need our combined help.” The men started to leave when the tall one paused and turned to Candlass. “Good luck. I hope this works.”
Candlass gave the man a confident smile. “We’ll be seeing a new world soon,” he reassured.
At least we hope so, Radcliff thought.
Once the guards left, Radcliff set his books down and began his own visual inspection. The stonework was expertly done and seamless. He ran a finger over one of the spires, admiring how smooth it was. “Well, shall we?” he asked Candlass. The man merely grunted and automatically took the top half which had the more intricate runes. Radcliff sighed. He really hated rune work, but he had to help if they hoped to finish before the shield collapsed.
Kneeling on the hard stone floor, Radcliff began etching the anchor runes. It was a tedious job that required precision, which he despised. Each hour, he got up to stretch his cramped muscles. About three hours into the job, people began trickling in with cartloads of supplies. The cavernous room they occupied gradually shrunk as more stuff was stockpiled. On one of his breaks, Radcliff laughed when a cart passed by filled with both predators and their prey. They were sleeping in cages, but side by side. Candlass laughed with him when he pointed it out.
Radcliff’s fingers were cramping up again from directing the fine spray of magic into far too many runes with far too many curves and embellishments. So when he heard a large commotion outside the cavern, he took it as an excuse to take a much needed break. Soon after, the emperor’s guards ran in with a very weary looking liege stumbling behind. They wasted no time shooing everyone from the entrance and shutting it off from the outside. The earth vibrated and a great rumbling sound of falling rock echoed for several minutes until it finally faded. The emperor stood slightly stooped but calmly addressed the now silent crowd. “We are at the final shield. Please remain calm and we’ll get through this together.” Without any further fanfare, he sat with his back up against the wall and closed his eyes. Radcliff could almost feel the hum of magic thrumming up from the pool below, using the emperor as a conduit to replenish the draining shield.
Here so soon? Radcliff was hoping they would have more time. The remaining rune work alone was probably two more hours plus they had to test the thing. This time with a non-living subject. Candlass cast him a worried glance. He shrugged. What else could they do but try? This time when Amira stopped by, both mages refused to stop working. Food could wait, this portal could not. She appeared to get the message and settled down nearby to watch.
In just under two hours, Radcliff was done. He double checked everything to be sure, then he checked on Candlass’ progress. The old man was finishing a particularly delicate swirl that linked two runes together. It was masterful work and Radcliff felt a slight twinge of envy. In so many ways his non-summoning magic was lacking. He got a heaping portion of the one and small side dishes of the rest.
When Candlass was finished, he let Radcliff pull him to his feet. “Ready to try it out?” He looked excited.
Radcliff looked at the thousands of people packed in the cavern and turned back to Candlass with a deadpan expression. “I wonder if they’ll still be scared of me if this doesn’t work.” Candlass stared at him a second before beginning to snicker. Radcliff’s lips twitched into a tiny smile and then they both began laughing. It was fairly maudlin humor since a portal of this size failing would take out the entire mountain.
When they were done laughing, they set up outside the circle. Radcliff took up his position on the south compass point and cleared his mind. “Here goes nothing.” Once again he began the long, torturous chant in the strange old language. At least this time he knew how to pronounce all the words well enough to get it to work. When the pull came, this time it demanded more than the trickle he was willing to give, yet the amplifier had yet to kick in. Without it, he’d fry. Radcliff stopped the chant, breaking the spell. “Something isn’t right.”
“What happened?” Candlass asked.
“The amplifier didn’t start up.” Radcliff knelt to inspect the runes.
Candlass shook his head. “I double checked the source runes. It should be working.”
“Hang on.” Radcliff walked over and sat next to the emperor. “Got a moment?”
The emperor’s eyes were closed and he looked like he was in pain, but he nodded.
“The amplifier failed to activate during the ritual. Is there a key word I should add to the spell?”
“Attunement,” the emperor whispered.
“Huh?” What was that supposed to mean? Nothing in the books mentioned anything about attunement. Radcliff was about to ask again when the emperor’s body locked up and he moaned.
A guard with a bandage around his head sitting on the other side of the emperor cut in. “I think he means you need to be attuned to the mountain, like we are.”
“Ok, how do I get attuned?”
“Only His Excellency can grant it.”
Great. Just great. Why didn’t he mention that before he had to play living channel to a draining shield? Radcliff wanted to hurl a rock at something.
“Nalani.” The emperor’s whisper was little more than the sound of his breath.
Radcliff frowned. “What does Nalani have to do with anything?” But the emperor didn’t answer. Likely he couldn’t. Frustrated, Radcliff stood and went on a hunt to find the girl. It was a long shot but maybe she knew what his liege meant.
He found the girl sitting in a cart with a snow cat. For all he knew, it was the same one he slept by when he first arrived. When he explained the problem, she made it sound so simple.
�
�I can take it from one person and give it to you.”
“Really?” Radcliff hadn’t come across that skill before, nor read about it.
She nodded. “That’s why the bad man in the cave took me.”
Bad man indeed. He remembered feeling ill when he stole all those memories from his copy. The Spider performed his sick form of entertainment on Radcliff’s unwilling body and mind several times over his thousand year incarceration. He recalled Spider saying he’d use the girl to steal his powers, but he dismissed that as delusional thinking. Now he shuddered at the thought of so much power in such a young person.
“What happens to the person you take from?”
“Oh, they lose their power.”
“Is it permanent?” The thought of being stripped of his power by a brief touch was rather concerning. Perhaps even scary.
“No. It comes back after a few hours.”
Although that was a relief, Radcliff still wondered about what the bad man, Spider, had mentioned. That it could be stolen permanently by killing the victim. Looking at Nalani, he didn’t have the heart to ask. Radcliff shifted thoughts back to the problem at hand. It appeared he needed a volunteer, and he knew just who to ask. “Follow me, we need to ask someone a question.”
The wounded guard looked at them both. “Yes, I’d be honored. As long as it isn’t permanent. You might want to sit down though. Getting the bond takes some getting used to.”
Radcliff took the guard’s advice and sat beside him. Nalani leaned over and placed one hand on Radcliff’s forehead and the other on the guard’s, then she scrunched her eyes shut. At first Radcliff didn’t notice any changes, but gradually pressure began to build in his mind. When it reached a painful level, his image popped into view, looking worried. But the pain only lasted seconds before something popped inside and a cold feeling settled near his temples.
Nalani removed her hands. “All done!” she exclaimed.
“Thanks Nalani,” Radcliff replied. As he watched her run off, his vision kept shifting into reds and yellows, then back to normal.
The guard chuckled. “I remember that look on my husband’s face. He took the bond a few months after I did, so I got to watch him stumble around like a drunk.” He grinned. “That red you see is body temperature.”
Radcliff scanned the cavern and saw what he meant. People were reds and oranges, objects were blue or green. “Thanks,” he told the guard as he struggled to stand. The new vision was disorienting.
“Good luck man.” The guard waved as Radcliff staggered off and headed back to the amplifier.
Amira rushed over and grabbed his arm to hold him on a straighter course. “What happened to you?”
“Borrowed a bit of magic. I’ll be fine.” He tried to shoo her off, but she just laughed.
“You walk like a drunk. Here, use this,” she said, and shoved the staff in his hand.
Upon touching the staff, he saw in even greater detail and began feeling the location of people around him in relation to the surrounding stone. Perhaps that was the attunement he needed in order to interact with the amplifier. “Huh. I think I’ll use this for the ritual, if you don’t mind?”
“Whatever helps.” Amira looked worried.
“Don’t worry. It will work.” At least it better work.
“Well, shall we try this again?” he asked Candlass. Amira patted his arm and put a lot of distance between them.
“You sorted it out?”
“Yeah, just needed an attunement.” When Candlass gave him a questioning look, Radcliff said, “Don’t ask.” He set up again on the southern side and began the incantation. This time when the pull happened, the giant edifice lit up and began humming. Amira’s staff also began to glow softly but Radcliff was too busy directing the flow to wonder about it. The runes on the floor lit up almost instantly with the huge flow of energy flooding them. Fortunately, the amplifier kept that diverted from Radcliff. He could sense a crowd forming around the structure, but tuned out the distraction while he recited the ending to the spell. This time the snap sounded like part of a cliff breaking off. He very nearly lost his concentration when he saw green through the giant sphere that he’d summoned. “It worked.”
Candlass clapped his hands like a child.
“No,” Radcliff said before the idiot could jump in. “We’ll test it properly this time.”
“Oh all right.” Candlass picked up one of Radcliff’s books and made to toss it through.
Radcliff growled. “Pick something else.”
“I was just teasing.” Candlass grinned and put the book down. He grabbed an apple from a nearby food cart. When he tossed it through, both men craned their necks to see if they could spot it. “Yep, there it is,” Candlass pointed to the right. Radcliff looked that way and saw it. The apple looked undamaged.
“Ok, get them moving. I’m not sure how long the magic will last between this drain and the shield.” Since the drain was easy enough to manage, Radcliff helped organize the refugees. Women and children went first along with all the food. Then the young boys and animals. It felt like two hours going on ten years by the time the men started going through. The flow of magic was beginning to fluctuate and Radcliff had to stop what he was doing so he could focus on keeping it smoothed out.
They are nearly through!
Radcliff looked around for his image but it wasn’t visible. Yet that was a clear voice speaking inside his mind. Feeling a bit foolish, he thought, “Who is this?”
Radcliff, how much longer do you need? The voice might have been faint, but the impatience was strong. He cocked his head. It sounded like the emperor when he was annoyed. When he glanced over though, the man looked unconscious. Deciding to humor the unknown voice, Radcliff analyzed how much time the present line was likely to take. “Thirty minutes,” he thought to whoever was hooked into his mind.
You don’t have thirty minutes. The flow chose that moment to sputter, and the portal shrank, just about nicking a woman who ducked at the last second. Radcliff fought the flow, sometimes using his own well of magic to supplement it. “Hurry,” he groaned through clenched teeth.
Could you summon the rest through? I want to save as many of my elites as possible.
Huh, so it was the emperor. Could he cast a summon spell while keeping a portal to another world open at the same time? Radcliff laughed at the absurdity of trying to feel a strange world with this one jammed into his head. Only his emperor would think him capable of such a feat. Unless… it might be possible if he could maintain the portal and go through to the other side. Then using the bond with the mountain, he could locate everyone and pull them through to where he stood. How great is the need?
You have about five minutes.
Ok, so the need was great. Lovely. He looked at how many people would die if this failed and spotted Ekewaka near the back. Of course the elder would want his people to go through first. When the power flow faltered again, Radcliff made up his mind. “Sorry,” he said as he cut to the front of the line. And here goes nothing.
The link followed him through the portal. Radcliff wasted no time pondering the theory of it all. He activated both his magic sense and the strange rock locater sense and tried to sort out the mess. It was impossible to get a fix on the emperor though he could find the rest. Why aren’t you showing up?
You have to leave me.
What? No. How could he say such a thing? The people needed their emperor.
Yes, son. Those things might be able to follow unless I destroy everything on this side.
I can get you through and go back and do that.
No, you are my chosen heir. You have to lead the people now. And you are bonded to a lovely woman.
The link began to fray.
Do it now! And son?
Yes?
I love you.
Radcliff ignored the wet on his face and yanked. People landed hard, but he was too upset to notice because at that moment the portal shut, snapping the link and leaving his emperor
to die alone.
Calydus III, the last emperor of Caladon, crawled to the center of the cavern, directly underneath the amplifier before he cut off the link to the shield. It wouldn’t take long for it to fall now. In the meantime, he pulled every drop of magic from the reservoir below until his body was glowing with energy. Wait for it…
The misshapen fiends broke through the remaining shield and swarmed the cavern.
“I deny you my empire!” he shouted in defiance as he pulled every last drop of magic out of the stone and broke the cap keeping the volcano inactive. As the pent up lava burst through the floor, it slammed into Calydus and popped his shield like a squashed grape. The resulting explosion leveled the mountain and destroyed the horde.
The entity in the void bellowed his rage.
SHE WAS HERE NOW GONE!!!
All the world’s magic and life energy vanished without a trace. Centuries spent fattening the hog for the slaughter, only to be denied. And she was almost in his grasp.
IT’S ALL HER FAULT!!
He had sunk his hooks in, manipulated the life sacks for centuries to get the world ripe for the harvest. He had sent in his gatherers, bits of himself since he couldn’t create, to reap what he’d sown.
ALL DEAD BECAUSE OF HER!!!
Enraged beyond rational thought, he flung his tentacles outward and tried to smash something, but he was locked in a void outside the physical plane and could only influence things with his mind.
ALL HER DOING!!
He sent a psychic blast through the gates that remained open and ripped the world to shreds. It was useless to him now, worth less than the rubble swirling through the space where it once orbited. That just enraged him even more. The entity sent psychic projections into the sun and surrounding planets, obliterating them. By the time the galaxy was dust, he settled back down to a well-honed rage. He would find her. He would make her pay. He would have his revenge. His maddened shouts made the very universe tremble in fear.
WHERE IS SHE?
