The Sword of Unmaking (The Wizard of Time - Book 2)

by G. L. Breedon

  “I’m sure he did.” Elizabeth sighed. “However, I was trying to kill Kumaradevi at the time. She fled, leaving him in the way. I’ve never been quite certain if she blames me for his death or blames herself for abandoning him.”

  Gabriel snorted with laughter before he could stop himself. The very notion of Kumaradevi blaming herself for anything going wrong sounded ridiculous.

  “Yes, you’re right,” Elizabeth said, laughing a bit herself. “We should be getting back. People will wonder what we’re up to. And we must not let on that we know we’re being listened to.”

  Elizabeth let the magical sound shield drop and transported them to back to the gardens, appearing behind a large tree where no one would notice their arrival.

  “I should collect my other cup,” Elizabeth said, wiggling the porcelain teacup in her hand. “What mischief are you contemplating?”

  A large number of castle folk still sat at tables and benches or sprawled out on the lawn. Gabriel scanned the faces for Teresa and Jan. He didn’t see them and didn’t want to consider what that might mean. He also didn’t want to consider why he should care one way or the other. But he knew he did. He felt his energy leave him in a wave as he sighed.

  “I should get to bed. I have a long day tomorrow.”

  “As do we all.” Elizabeth hesitated a moment and then kissed him on the forehead. “Goodnight, Gabriel.”

  Gabriel grinned at Elizabeth’s restrained affection and walked back through the castle grounds to his room in the old visitor apartments. Contrary to castle custom, he had been allowed to keep a private room and forgo the tradition of new apprentices bunking with a roommate. A minor privilege of being the Seventh True Mage.

  Later, after a brief shower, he lay in bed, letting the various conversations of the day drift through his mind, replaying parts of each in no particular order, pondering how they might all fit together. As he dozed, he wondered why he attempted to find patterns in things that didn’t seem related. When he fell asleep, he dreamed of Vicaquirao.

  Vicaquirao sat across an oaken table, a small, flat red stone held between his finger and thumb. His deep brown eyes examined the stone.

  “The object of the game it is to capture as many of your opponent’s stones as possible and be the first player with an entire section of the board dominated by a single color of stone.” Vicaquirao gestured toward the game board.

  What is this game?

  Gabriel studied the square wooden board. Within the frame of the board sat six concentric rings, each smaller than the next, and each with a series of round black spaces marked for placing game stones. The circular rings were divided into four sections, each ring with a decreasing number of spaces. The outer ring had four sections of six spaces, the next ring four sections of five spaces, and so on. The final ring held four sections with only one space in each. In the center of the board sat a single, empty, uncolored circle. A small clay dish with game stones rested on the board outside the base of each section. Each dish held either red, blue, green, or yellow stones.

  “At the beginning of your turn, you may place one stone or you may move one stone. Each stone may move up to three spaces at a time.” Vicaquirao placed the red stone on the fourth ring of one section of the board and picked up two dice, one with six sides and the other a pyramid-shaped die with four sides.

  “After you place a stone, you roll the dice. The six-sided die will tell you which ring must move while the four-sided die will tell you how far it must turn. Since there are four sections, a roll of four means the board stays as it is.”

  Gabriel watched as Vicaquirao rolled the dice. A three and a three. Vicaquirao touched the edges of the third ring, and Gabriel observed with fascination as he rotated the ring three turns.

  “The keys to the game are learning to anticipate and plan for the subtle changes in the board, and how to arrange for minor alterations and use them to your advantage.”

  Why is he showing me this?

  “I’ve never seen a game like this.” Gabriel picked up one of the green stone pieces and held it before his eyes.

  “I can’t imagine you have.” Vicaquirao’s eyes appeared warm and bright. “Why don’t you take a turn? The game can be played by four people, but as there are only two of us, I’ll play blue and red, while you play green and yellow.”

  Where are we?

  Gabriel looked up from the board and noticed for the first time that he and Vicaquirao sat in the grass along the edge of a swiftly flowing stream.

  How did I get here? Is this a dream?

  “Your move.”

  Gabriel brought his gaze back to Vicaquirao and the board of the mysterious game. He still had the small green stone in his hand. He placed it in the fifth ring in the section nearest himself and picked up the dice. He rolled a five and two, inclining his head in curiosity as Vicaquirao rotated the fifth ring of the board two sections clockwise, bringing his green stone next to Vicaquirao’s previously placed red stone.

  Vicaquirao laughed deeply.

  “You have a great deal to learn about how to play this game.”

  Vicaquirao placed his red stone on the space Gabriel’s green stone occupied, capturing it and setting it aside.

  I can beat him at his game. I only need practice.

  Gabriel watched as Vicaquirao rolled the dice and rotated the board once more, eager to begin his own next move, his mouth dry in anticipation. Dry as…

  Chapter 5: Left Behind

  Cotton.

  Gabriel opened his eyes, blinking at the sunlight coming through the open window of his room and wincing at the ringing of his alarm clock. He reached out and smacked the clock into silence.

  His throat felt dry. He must have slept with his mouth open. He sat up and grabbed a glass of water beside the bed, rubbing his eyes as images from his dreams faded from consciousness.

  Vicaquirao. He’d been dreaming of the Dark Mage again. It happened sometimes. Less now than after his ordeals a year ago, however. Kumaradevi and Apollyon were more likely to be the sources of his nightmares. This hadn’t been a nightmare, though. He’d been doing something with Vicaquirao. A game. Yes, they had been playing some strange board game. What an odd dream. He wondered what it meant.

  Sema would probably say it had to do with his own desire to gain mastery over Vicaquirao in order to compensate for his feelings that the Dark Mage had gained power over him. That seemed as good an interpretation as any, and he let the thought fade as he prepared for the day.

  Gabriel’s days always began, after a hastily consumed breakfast in the Waterloo Chamber, with private lessons from Akikane. These lessons started with a period of meditation, followed by a longer period of sword training, and culminated in an extensive session devoted to learning how to blend and manipulate all six magics simultaneously for both combative and non-combative purposes.

  Akikane believed meditation stilled the mind while swordsmanship helped concentrate it. With practice, the sword would become an extension of the will on an instinctive level. Too much conscious thought in the middle of a sword fight could lead to defeat. Thinking about how to use the sword took up precious time that should be used wielding the blade. The same, Akikane said, held true for magic. Just as a master swordsman or swordswoman could react intuitively and purposefully in a fight to defeat an opponent without taking the time for conscious thought, a mage could do the same. Learning to use magic in an instinctive way in combat, particularly all six magics simultaneously, consumed much of their lesson time together.

  Mastering that lesson, however, usually involved collecting numerous bruises from the bokken, the wooden practice sword Akikane used to focus Gabriel’s mind. Gabriel also held a bokken, but in nearly a year of practice, he had never once slipped past Akikane’s defenses to make contact with more than air. He was, however, getting better at defending himself from Akikane’s attacks. He’d lasted nearly a minute before one of Akikane’s blows struck his arm.

  “No thought, no thought
.” Akikane disappeared and reappeared behind Gabriel, sword swinging. Gabriel rolled and disappeared himself, appearing behind Akikane, his back to his teacher. Akikane appeared facing Gabriel, sword already outstretched to block the blow from Gabriel’s attack.

  “Good, good. More surprise.” Akikane disappeared again. Gabriel leapt through space to the other side of the room, sensing where Akikane would appear next. He swung his bokken at the spot where he felt certain Akikane would soon occupy and felt a slap along his back, sending him sprawling to the floor. Looking up, he saw Akikane’s smile, floating in midair like the Cheshire Cat, as his tutor hovered serenely above the ground.

  Gabriel rolled and leapt to his feet, throwing his sword at Akikane’s chest. The wooden blade burst into flame as it flew toward Akikane, guided and accelerated by Gabriel’s magic. Akikane disappeared before the flaming sword could reach him, jumping through space to appear, once again, behind Gabriel, who spun and reached out with his magic, grasping and twisting space-time to deliver the bokken from Akikane’s hand and into his own. Gabriel swung the bokken at Akikane even as the wooden sword materialized in his hand.

  A look of beatific joy flashed across Akikane’s face as he threw himself at Gabriel with incredible speed, managing to get inside the arc of the sword’s trajectory, block his arm, turn into his body, and swing the young mage over his shoulder to the floor, simultaneously twisting his wrist to relieve him of the sword. To his credit, Gabriel rolled from the fall and jumped to his feet to face Akikane again, arms raised in defense — swordless and annoyed with himself.

  “Wonderful, wonderful.” Akikane raised the sword point to Gabriel’s heart. The burning sword on the floor behind him extinguished itself in a small puff of smoke.

  “What’s so wonderful?” Gabriel tried to keep from panting. “I lost my sword!”

  “True, true, but now comes the best lesson of all.” Akikane’s smile grew so dazzling, Gabriel nearly smiled himself.

  “What lesson? How to lose?” Gabriel knew the point of the lesson — allowing subconscious thought to guide action — but he couldn’t stop consciously thinking about how he might gain the upper hand again. Taking Akikane’s sword had seemed like an act of inspiration. Now he’d have to settle for an act of desperation.

  “No, no, you have already lost.” Akikane stepped closer. “What options are available to you now?”

  “Fight again?” Gabriel wiped the sweat from his forehead as he tried to discern the intent behind Akikane’s words.

  “Fight to lose more?”

  Gabriel considered this. The absence of repetition in Akikane’s words lent them more power. The answer was simple, but Gabriel didn’t like it.

  “Surrender.”

  “Exactly, exactly.” Akikane lowered the sword. “With surrender comes the possibility of peace.”

  Gabriel frowned as he tried to figure out the meaning of Akikane’s words. “But if I don’t want peace…”

  “Then you must fight,” Akikane said. “Fight until you lose.”

  “And if neither of us wants peace?” Gabriel thought he saw where this line of reasoning might lead.

  “The same end, the same end.” Akikane stepped closer, swinging the wooden sword over his shoulder.

  “You’re talking about the war.” Gabriel let his arms drop to his sides.

  “You see, you see.” Akikane flipped the sword from his shoulder and handed it, hilt first, to Gabriel.

  “The more skillful opponent can force the other into surrender.” Gabriel took the sword from Akikane with a slight sigh. “And you’re more skillful than I am, even without a sword.”

  “Just so, just so.” Akikane held Gabriel’s eyes.

  “You think that if we are strong enough, skillful enough, we can force the Malignancy Mages into peace.”

  Gabriel bit his lip as he considered the notion. He, like nearly every other mage, had assumed the war would be eternal, with neither side ever clearly losing nor winning.

  “Not us, not us.” Akikane’s eyes still had not left Gabriel’s.

  Gabriel thought he might draw blood if he bit down any harder on his lip.

  “You mean me.”

  “A leader must be strong enough to fight, and to make peace.” Akikane looked at the sword in Gabriel’s’ hand. “Most importantly, a leader must know when to fight and when to make peace.”

  “But…” Gabriel didn’t like where this lesson had lead and didn’t want to know the answer to the question it left singing in his mind. “How will I ever be that strong?”

  “Strength is not here.” Akikane touched a finger to the wooden blade. “Strength is here.” He moved two fingers to touch Gabriel’s head. “And here.” He placed his fingers above Gabriel’s heart.

  “Do you really think peace is possible?” Gabriel felt a pleasant, powerful warmth radiate through him from where Akikane touched his breastbone.

  “Possible, possible.” Akikane lowered his hand. “But likely? Who knows?” Akikane chuckled. “Now let us practice fighting when our opponent has a sword and we do not.”

  “I thought I already practiced that,” Gabriel said with a laugh. Akikane laughed as well, then stopped and frowned as he turned to the door of the dojo training quarters.

  Elizabeth strode through the door and headed toward them.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have something I need to discuss with you both,” Elizabeth said.

  Gabriel lowered the wooden sword. She had never interrupted their lessons before and had never summoned Gabriel in person to discuss something. She usually sent someone to bring Gabriel to her office. He suspected why she would choose to come to them herself, but the fact that she did so made him worry about the reasons.

  “Indeed, indeed,” Akikane said as Elizabeth stepped before them. “We should take a break. Someplace with some more air, perhaps?”

  “Yes, that would be ideal,” Elizabeth said, waving gauzy remnants of burnt sword smoke from her face. “I know exactly the spot.”

  A moment later, the three stood atop the King Henry III tower. A magical sound barrier slipped into place as Elizabeth looked around.

  “I have important news.” Elizabeth seemed content that no one on the castle grounds had noticed their appearance on the tower and turned back to Gabriel and Akikane. “One of our informants believes the Apollyons will attack the Dresden outpost.”

  “When, when?” Akikane’s joyful continence evaporated, replaced by a stern curiosity.

  “The informant has provided a date and a time,” Elizabeth said. “I believe we should mount a defense and use the opportunity to reduce the number of Apollyon duplicates as much as possible.”

  “Yes, yes,” Akikane said. “We must act quickly before his own informants can alert him of our plan.”

  “I agree,” Elizabeth said. “I want to assemble a strike team within the hour. Secretly. And I think you should lead it.”

  “Certainly, certainly,” Akikane said. “We could have twenty teams ready to go that quickly. Maybe thirty.”

  Gabriel gasped slightly at the number. There were only around a hundred teams in total, and a third of them were out in the field at any given time. An assault force of thirty teams of mages would be half the complement of the castle.

  “I’m glad you agree,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll inform the council privately. One at a time to avoid suspicion. I think it best if the teams leave at the same time and rendezvous for instructions.”

  “Nanjing, Nanjing,” Akikane said. “The outpost there has room to hold them all for a time.”

  “Perfect.” A glint of fury and determination filled Elizabeth’s eyes. “We should begin immediately. Remember, ears could be anywhere.”

  Gabriel looked between Akikane and Elizabeth, feeling awkward and childish to still be holding a wooden sword while plans for the most dangerous and daring assault of the war unfolded before him.

  “What about me?” Gabriel’s voice brought the attention of both senior mage
s.

  “You and I will stay here.” Elizabeth’s gaze softened as she spoke. “This may be a trap. I won’t send to you face the Apollyons when you have only just recovered from the last encounter. That too may have been a trap. I’ve been looking into how we discovered Marcus Aurelius, and it seems altogether too convenient.”

  “But I can help.”

  “No doubt, no doubt.” Akikane’s joyousness had returned. “However, the war will not end today. You will see plenty of battles before it does.”

  “If it ever does.” Elizabeth regarded Akikane with a hint of sadness.

  “Faith, faith.” Akikane slapped Gabriel on the shoulder. “We must have faith.”

  “I prefer certainty, but I suppose I’ll take what I can get.” Elizabeth waved her hand and the sound barrier vanished, the noises of the castle returning to their ears. “Well, then, we should be about it. You know what to tell Ohin and your team?”

  “Yes, Ma’am.” Gabriel flipped the wooden sword to his shoulder in what he hoped looked like a supremely confident gesture. “I’ll let them down easy.”

  “Good.” Elizabeth turned to Akikane. “Good luck.”

  “And you.” Akikane nodded to Gabriel. “And you.”

  Akikane disappeared, followed a moment later by Elizabeth, leaving Gabriel alone on King Henry III’s tower. He paused a moment to look out beyond the castle to the primeval world of dinosaurs surrounding their little fortress in time. It seemed so peaceful but really wasn’t. Massive reptiles running, hunting, slaughtering, and eating each other in an endless cycle of conquest of survival.

  Thinking about the battle his fellow mages were about to embark upon, it dawned on Gabriel that mammals hadn’t changed the nature of life on the planet much when the dinosaurs became extinct. Different actors, same play. He wondered briefly if he might be able to rewrite one short act of that drama, but knowing he wouldn’t know until he knew, he instead focused on the task before him.

  He teleported from the tower and returned his bokken to its rack in the practice room, grabbing the Sword of Unmaking before heading off in search of Ohin and the rest of the Chimera team. They took the news of the impending assault, delivered discretely under and elm tree in the Lower Ward, with the usual dispassion.