"What in the world was that?" he asked.
"Just something that I have been experimenting with," smiled Jenneva as she walked towards the corpse. "You don't think I spend all that time in my study reading for nothing, do you?"
"But I have never seen anything like it," Alex stated. "I saw your shields weakening. I thought you were drained. How did you manage to recover so quickly?"
"My shields were not weakening," answered Jenneva. "That was an illusion to make K'san think that my power was spent. I needed him to concentrate solely on you to fire off my spell."
"Did you know that it would work?" asked Alex as he looked around for the dog.
"No," admitted Jenneva, "but that is part of what this excursion is about. If we are going to travel to Zara, I think we need to know more about their magic. That is why I magically hid myself in this room with an illusion. I wanted to see if K'san could detect me. He failed to."
"And you didn't tell me so that I wouldn't inadvertently give you away?" asked Alex.
"Precisely," nodded Jenneva. "If the Zarans have decent mind-control magic, I could not afford for you to know my location. K'san might have been able to extract that knowledge from you."
Randi Witzak ran into the room and looked around. He noted the bodies on the floor and sheathed his sword.
"The temple is secure," the Ranger announced. "We need to notify the governor."
"Send Bitsy," Alex said to Jenneva as he spotted Smokey in a heap near the corner.
Alex hurried to the corner and knelt next to Smokey. The dog was breathing heavily and looked up at Alex. Smokey murmured happily as Alex ran his hand over the dog's body.
"Take a look at him, Jenneva," Alex urged. "See if you can determine what is ailing him."
"Being thrown into a wall is what is ailing him," Jenneva replied as she released Bitsy and moved to Smokey's side. "I will ease his pain."
Alex turned to Randi as Rangers began filing into the large room.
"Casualties?" he asked.
"One dead and one injured," frowned Randi. "It could have been a lot worse. There were two armed men on the second floor. They appeared to be waiting for us in the library."
"That is how Jenneva and I entered the temple in Pia," frowned Alex. "I wonder how they are getting their information? We left no survivors in that battle, yet this K'san was expecting a warrior and a mage."
Jenneva halted her healing spell and rose to her feet. She turned and stared at Alex as if rolling some dark thought around in her mind.
"Do not speak," commanded Jenneva. "Say nothing more in this temple."
Alex and Randi turned to Jenneva with looks of confusion on their faces. Jenneva picked up Smokey and cradled him in her arms. She marched out the front doors of the temple and Alex ran after her. Jenneva did not stop until she was a block away from the temple.
"Tell me what you are thinking," Alex said softly.
"I do not think it is wise to speak in the temples," revealed Jenneva. "I suspect that the Zarans may be getting their information by scrying."
"Scrying?" echoed Alex. "What is it?"
"It is a magical means of viewing another place," explained Jenneva. "It is usually facilitated through the use of a magical artifact. Sarac once had a crystal globe in his possession that he used for such purposes. The artifacts are not foolproof, and they do have limitations, but again, we must remember how little we know of Zaran magic."
"You mean they can see and hear anywhere they want to?" questioned Alex.
"No," Jenneva shook her head. "The globe that Sarac possessed required that the user be familiar with the place he is spying on. There may also be range limitations. I am not an expert in this field, so everything I am saying is tentative."
"But they could be listening to us now," Alex pointed out. "Surely anyone to have gone to that temple would have passed this place at one time or another?"
"One cannot scry every place in the world," Jenneva shook her head. "Scrying in the temples makes a bit of sense. There are only a few temples in Alcea, and one person could effectively monitor them all, but to monitor everywhere is just not possible."
"So they may have heard everything we said inside?" asked Alex. "They may know that we are going to Zara?"
"That is possible," nodded Jenneva, "but not certain. Remember, attacks are going on at all of the temples right now. If the scryer happens to see the attack going on in Tagaret, he would not stop scrying there to view what is happening in Kantor. The odds favor us this night, but it is unwise to risk speaking in the temples. We need to notify the other groups as soon as we can."
Chapter 27
Change of Plans
Bin-lu used a circuitous route through the streets of Marchek to ensure that he wasn't being followed. When he was satisfied that no one was paying any attention to him, he slipped down an alley to the waterfront. A mere sliver of the moon hung in the sky, and Bin-lu glanced up at it. The sky was clear and the stars were bright. The next night would bring a new moon, but the Knight of Alcea still hoped that some cloud cover would roll in sometime during the day.
The waterfront of the Lanoirian city was fairly busy, even late at night. The city was a port, and the economic hub of the city resided in the docks and along the wharf. Taverns and inns lined the waterfront, and while most residents of the city were already asleep, the visiting seamen still moved about from one establishment to the next. Bin-lu watched the activity for a few moments from the shelter of a dark alley. When he saw nothing out of the ordinary, he stepped out of the alley and headed for the docks.
No one appeared to pay any attention to the Lanoirian as he turned onto one of the finger docks and walked casually towards the far end of it. When he reached the very end of the dock, he glanced back towards the city before stepping onto one of the merchant ships.
The Seahorse had a small herd of horses on the deck, but no large crates of merchandise. It was similar to any of a half dozen other Cordonian ships in the harbor, as it appeared to be waiting for a shipment bound for some distant port. A lone sailor sat on the far edge of the deck, seeming to gaze at the stars above. Bin-lu moved smoothly across the deck and down the stairs towards the crew quarters, but he was not heading for his bunk. Instead, Bin-lu went straight to the captain's quarters and let himself in without knocking. The people gathered in the cabin looked up as he entered.
"We can begin the meeting now," announced Jami Witzak, the head Ranger for the mission. "What did you discover?"
"The temple in Marchek is more wary of attack than either of the other two temples that I have visited," Bin-lu declared. "While there are still just two guards outside the rear door, there are another two guards on the roof over the rear door. They appear to be in place specifically to warn of anyone trying to overpower the two guards below."
"So we can't get in the back door without alerting the whole temple," frowned Rut-ki.
"Nor can we get in using the roof," Tedi pointed out. "That is going to make our approach to the temple rather dangerous."
"Do the sentries on the roof move around?" asked Jami. "Would it be possible to pick them off as they patrol the perimeter?"
"From one of the nearby buildings maybe?" interjected another Ranger.
"From what I have seen," Bin-lu shook his head, "the roof sentries are not meant to patrol. Their only purpose is to watch for an attack on the rear door below them. It would be impossible to attack either pair of sentries without alerting the other."
"Could we possibly take out all four of them at once?" asked Natia.
"Silently?" asked Jami. "I doubt it. We can't get close enough to the sentries to use myric quills. Any other weapon is going to create some noise. Even the snap of a bowstring would be enough to sound an alarm."
"What about the fairies?" asked Rut-ki. "Can't they put people to sleep?"
"They can," conceded Bin-lu, "but we only have two of them."
"We also have unicorns," Natia pointed out. "It should be easy to lan
d Rangers on the roof."
"Not close enough to attack the sentries without noise," Tedi shook his head. "Just seeing one of us riding on a unicorn would be enough for them to sound the alarm. This is going to be a loud and noisy battle."
"Perhaps," mused Bin-lu, "but it needn't be. We are concentrating all of our efforts on the rear door, but there are two doors to the temple."
"The front door is closed at dusk," declared Rut-ki. "Any attempt to get in that way would surely arouse someone."
"Would it?" Bin-lu smiled thinly. "What if the front door was opened for us in the middle of the night?"
"That would make things easy," stated Jami, "but how are you planning to have that done? Are these Zarans susceptible to bribes?"
"And could you trust one of them?" asked another Ranger.
"I certainly would not trust any of them," answered Bin-lu, "but I might be tempted to become one of them."
"You mean by using the wristband?" gasped Rut-ki. "That is dangerous. What if the K'san in Ongchi had already passed on the information he had gathered about you? They would kill you on sight."
"It does sound risky," agreed Tedi. "You said that the priest in Ongchi knew all about you. It would make sense for him to share that information with the other temples in Lanoir. I would rather have a loud and bloody battle than to throw your life away on such a gamble."
"We have a day to figure this out," declared Jami. "I don't think we have to start with any drastic alternatives."
"I disagree," replied Bin-lu. "Our original attack plan has been made improbable, or at least our method of entry. In addition, I do not think the sentries on the roof are merely for show. I suspect that the temple is expecting an attack. If that is true, more surprises may be waiting for us inside the temple."
"I hadn't thought about that," commented Rut-ki. "We don't know what is waiting for us inside."
"Correct," Bin-lu continued. "To try to answer that question, one of us must get inside the temple to spy on them. As we have been discussing, that is nearly impossible after dusk, so whoever goes in must do so in the daytime. That means that we do not have a whole day to plot. We need a feasible plan or two tonight, and a way to alternate between plans tomorrow night."
"You are proposing to sneak into the temple during the day tomorrow?" asked Tedi. "And spy on them?"
"More or less," nodded Bin-lu. "They have a morning service and an afternoon one. That gives us two chances to get inside and snoop around. Rut-ki and I should be able to mingle with the crowd without arousing any suspicions."
"And we will try to stay inside after the afternoon session?" asked Rut-ki. "That is how we will open the front door?"
"I will stay inside," declared Bin-lu. "It is too risky for both of us to attempt it."
"But we will have twice the chance of success if we both attempt it," countered Rut-ki.
"No," Tedi interjected quickly before Bin-lu found himself in a situation that could be counterproductive. "Two of you inside would only complicate things. Instead of twice the chance of opening the doors, you will actually cut your odds in half. If the clerics find either one of you, they would become very alert. That would make the task of opening the doors from the inside almost impossible."
"That is correct," Bin-lu agreed.
Rut-ki frowned, but she accepted the gypsy's logic.
"The alternate plan is to enter through the rear door?" asked Jami.
"Yes," replied Bin-lu. "That will be messier, but if the door is not opened by the prescribed time, the fairies will put the sentries on the roof to sleep. The Rangers will fly onto the rooftop using the unicorns, but someone must take out the rear door sentries."
"Natia, Rut-ki, and I will handle that," volunteered Tedi. "It is a noisy entrance, but it worked well in Ongchi."
"If it comes to that," interjected Jami, "give my men time to get inside before you start the attack. Perhaps the three of you can act as a distraction while we are landing on the roof?"
"A distant distraction," added Bin-lu. "Be far enough away not to pose a threat, but close enough to make a fair amount of noise to cover up what is going on above their heads."
"We can do that," Natia assured Bin-lu. "Does the plan for inside the temple remain the same?"
"Unless I learn something tomorrow which requires a change to the plans," nodded Bin-lu.
* * *
Bin-lu and Rut-ki were dressed as farmers. Their plain gray clothes were well worn and had obviously been mended several times, but they were clean. Rut-ki was barefoot, but Bin-lu had to wear his special boots. He felt confident that no one would notice them. Neither of them carried a weapon as they merged with the crowd flowing into the Temple of Balmak.
The crowd was larger than the morning crowd, and Bin-lu tensed as it began to appear that the temple might fill up, forcing the rest of the crowd to listen from outside. That is exactly what happened, but fortunately Bin-lu and Rut-ki made it inside before the clerics halted the flow of worshippers. Many of the people were already on their knees with their heads pressed against the floor, and it was almost impossible to move around without stepping on someone. Bin-lu dropped Rut-ki's hand and indicated that she should stay where she was. Rut-ki obeyed and knelt in between two large men.
Bin-lu continued onward, working his way to the right-hand wall and squeezing his way forward. Several of the worshippers mumbled under their breath, but no one actually confronted the Knight of Alcea. He made his way to the second row and dropped to his knees between two men. While there was room for Bin-lu's knees between the legs of the two men, there was not room enough for him to lean forward. As he leaned forward to press his head to the floor, he purposely nudged the old man on his right with his shoulder, causing the man to reluctantly move so that his shoulder was against the wall.
With his head pressed to the floor, Bin-lu's eyes scanned the long corridor in front of him. It was one of four ways to enter the large room. The large doors leading to the street were directly opposite a large curtain. Behind the curtain was a hidden corridor leading into the heart of the temple. There were two additional corridors leading deeper into the temple, one on each side of the room, on the same wall as the curtain. Bin-lu's current position allowed him a view of the right-hand corridor. He had managed to view the left-hand corridor during the morning service, but he saw nothing alarming.
The curtain parted and two black-cloaks entered the room. Bin-lu dropped his eyes and pressed his head to the floor as the mages began to scan the crowd. The Knight of Alcea was fairly used to the magical touch upon him, having visited the temples many times. He focused his mind on his uncle's farm in Barouk, visions of chickens and goats flooding his memory. The magical touch came and went quickly, and Bin-lu let his mind return to his mission. He did not know if the magical scan was a mind-reading thing, or merely a test of magical ability, but he found it safer to assume the worst and always distracted himself when he knew it was coming.
The curtain parted again, and the priest entered the room and moved to the altar. The black-cloaks moved away from the altar, each of them standing in one of the corners where the corridors led into the temple. K'san began the service, and people raised their heads off the floor to focus on the speaker. Bin-lu faced the priest, but he surreptitiously watched the closest black-cloak and the corridor behind him.
During the service, Bin-lu saw several clerics moving between rooms far along the corridor, but he didn't notice anything alarming. The nearest black-cloak kept his eyes continually scanning the crowd, as did the one in the morning service, but he did not feel the magical touch upon him again. Before he knew it, the service was over. K'san immediately disappeared through the curtain, and the black-cloaks moved closer to the altar. Bin-lu rose to his feet, but he did not join the mass of bodies surging towards the doors. He moved rather slowly, allowing others to pass him by. He waited anxiously for Rut-ki to make her move.
As the massive crowd surged towards the doors, shouts erupted. Bin-lu knew that
Rut-ki had managed to trip some of the followers, causing a situation that caught the attention of the black-cloaks. He watched them closely and saw them stiffen with the first shout. The shouting increased as threats and curses filled the air. The black-cloaks started towards the commotion, pushing people out of their way. Bin-lu glanced along the corridor and saw a distant cleric. He quickly abandoned his plan to race out of the room. Instead, he dashed to the large curtain and slid behind it.
While the curtain concealed a hidden corridor, it also extended past the corridor entrance by a wide margin. Bin-lu slipped behind the end of the curtain and quickly slipped his gloves off. Using only his sticky hands, the Knight of Alcea pulled himself up the wall behind the curtain. The curtain was held in place by a long wooden rod, and when Bin-lu reached the ceiling, he wrapped his arms around the rod and lifted his feet and rested them on the stanchion protruding from the wall. With only his ears to guide him about the activity in the room, Bin-lu settled in for a long wait.
Shortly after Bin-lu had reached his perch the shouting died down. He continued to listen to the exodus of worshippers until the room grew quiet. He heard the doors being closed and barred and then the sounds of footsteps coming closer.
"These people are pathetic," stated one of the black-cloaks as they approached the curtain. "K'san has no need to order them to whip themselves, they whip each other at every possible opportunity. Did you see them shoving each other for no reason? Animals are more cordial."
"K'san does not preach cordiality," replied the other black-cloak. "The citizens of Marchek are far too cordial. It is only the ones who come here to worship who care not for their fellow man. Today's confrontation only proves the truth of what I say."
"Confrontation? You think the fight was deliberate?"
"Absolutely. The young bare-footed boy started it. He was probably crowded by someone during the service and saw a chance to get his revenge. I am surprised that it doesn't happen more often."
Knights of Alcea Page 35
