The Journey Home: The Ingenairii Series: Beyond the Twenty Cities

by Jeffrey Quyle

  Alec sat at a side table and listened to the discussion about shipping and collecting the trading fees, until Kinset walked into the room, following the aide who had been sent for him.

  “I knew you would want to see me soon,” Kinset told Alec as they shook hands. Alec motioned him out of the room and they went to a separate space.

  “Do you know where she is?” Alec asked as soon as the door closed behind them. “Is she safe?”

  “Your beloved is in danger, but her fate is not yet decided,” Kinset told Alec. “She was spirited away to Michian. If you go there you will find her, but you may lose your powers in the process of searching for her, and you will face a great opponent.

  “I do not understand it all, but that is the prophecy I feel in my heart,” Kinset told Alec.

  “How could she have been taken to Michian?” Alec asked, gripping Kinset’s hand in a desperate hold. “The restorers are virtually all disabled, and even if they weren’t, who would know to look in Goldenfields to find her, and why would they?”

  “Your answers are in Michian,” Kinset told Alec.

  “I understand,” Alec said. “I know you’re only passing to me the things you learn. I don’t blame you for anything; I’m really very happy that we met. You’ve been a great help,” Alec told the Spirit ingenaire. “You’ve given me a direction to look in, and I’m thankful.”

  “But there is danger for you as well,” Kinset warned. “Be very careful before you do anything foolish or rash.”

  “Thank you Kinset,” Alec said warmly, touched by the prophet’s concern. “I will be careful. And I will rescue Andi – nothing can stop me. Give my regards to Linnear, and let him know I will return when I can.”

  “My lord,” Alec addressed the Duke of Goldenfields a half hour later, upon his return to the other newly freed city. “I have been told that Andi has been taken to Michian somehow.” He held up his hand to forestall the protest about the impossibility of such a thing. “I don’t know how it happened, or who did it, but I am going there to set her free. And when that is done, the two of us will return to Goldenfields to help you. Stronghold is free of the ingenairii as well, so you have an ally you can work with against Oyster Bay if you need one soon.”

  Alec immediately took his leave of Remton, and went up to his own room, where he packed a bag of supplies, then engaged his Traveler energy to move step-by-step towards Michian. He traveled first to the Saltcrust, the empty Bondell fortress set high upon a towering pinnacle of stone. He made the next jump to southern Bondell, again stopping at the bridge over the Ravinia River. From there he made his next transport through space and landed in a small glade behind the Canare clan’s enclave.

  He sat and rested under the ancient trees that surrounded a small pond, and contemplated what he would do next. He could imagine only two places where Andi could be hidden in the city, only two places that might have the power to somehow overcome and remove her. One was the palace, where it was possible a restorer had escaped his poison, and was still able to travel, and happened to have the ability to travel to Goldenfields. The other was the central temple of the sorcerers and sorceresses; at least he assumed there was a reconstituted central temple, as there had been long ago, before he had stormed and ravaged the structure, slaying and driving out as many demon-callers as he could when he had been consort to the empress, so long ago.

  The palace would not have the means to overcome Andi or to damper her spirit’s ability to communicate with him, though it might have the Restorers. The sorcerers would not have the ability to travel back and forth, but might conceivably be able to overpower Andi somehow. It seemed to Alec that there was a likely coordinated effort between the two centers to carry out the capture of his beloved, and he felt a great deal of caution about blindly taking on such potent potential adversaries.

  Transporting himself with his Traveler energy always consumed a great deal of his ability, and he felt the results of his activity to move back and forth from Goldenfields to Stronghold, and then to come to Michian. Alec was cognizant of Kinset’s warning that he might lose his powers, and he decided to pace himself, and take the remainder of the day to rest, so that he would have his fullest use of energy available when he entered whatever dangerous, unknown circumstances awaited him. Drawing a small stream of his Light energy, Alec wrapped himself in invisibility and entered the Canare mansion. He stealthily advanced to the laundry area, when he pilfered a pair of bright yellow robes, then climbed the stairs and appropriated a small gable room that appeared unoccupied and unclaimed. Its walls were bare of ornament, and the bedstead had no covers or sheets over its mattress. Alec concluded it would make a safe place of refuge, so he stuffed his supplies beneath the bedstead, then went back downstairs and explored the kitchen, choosing a pair of mutton chops and a loaf of bread, along with a wineskin of berry juice. He carried all of his plunder upstairs to his temporary home away from home, then used his Stone energy to tighten the door frame slightly so that no one could open the door on him, and finally relaxed, laying back to casually eat his meal.

  He had spent the past week revisiting all the critical spots of his youth, he realized. He’d been in the Pale Mountains, Goldenfields, Oyster Bay, Stronghold, and now here with the Canare clan of Michian. He only missed Bondell to have seen them all. It was a blur of action, and yet the only thing that mattered now was finding Andi, and rescuing her from whatever enemy held her. Andi, he wistfully called her name.

  Alec, where are you? You feel near, her voice responded in his head. He sat bolt upright and paused before answering.

  There was a strange taint to the feel of her spirit as she made contact, and he tried to decipher the warning bells that were tolling in his mind. The sensation he felt seemed to have a quiet sense of familiarity, and of fearfulness.

  Andi, I’ve been looking for you, he answered. I miss you.

  I need your help. Come save me, Alec. Where are you? Can you help me? Andi’s voice instantly spoke back to him.

  She spoke with a neediness that seemed out of character, and seemed more interested in knowing where he was than anything else. Yet he was sure the voice was hers.

  Can you tell me where you are? How did you get there? He asked.

  He could not sense her location still. Near or far was not relevant, because there was no sense of presence from her at all.

  They took me. I need you. Where are you Alec? she asked.

  I’m heading to the palace, he told her. I’ll find you. Are you there?

  Yes, I’m at the palace, she answered.

  No, Alec no! It’s a trap, her voice practically shrieked in his mind, then there was a snarl, and silence.

  Andi? He called. He waited, but there was no answer.

  He lay back and closed his eyes, then wiped away the tears that began to pool upon them. He had no doubt that she was alive, and somehow her mental voice had been coerced to try to help locate him, to set a target upon his back for whatever powerful force was at work. Yet her own true voice had fought through the control they held, and shouted out a warning.

  He had to find her, and save her, he told himself. But any enemy strong enough to manipulate Andi’s will to speak would be a powerful adversary; he needed to have a night’s rest to allow him to bring his utmost efforts to bear in battle. Even with full energies and forewarned of a trap, the prophecy told him that he could lose his powers in the effort. It would be a nerve-wracking experience, but he had no doubt that he had to try it in order to set Andi free.

  Alec lay on his mattress and listened to the distant, muffled sounds of life in the Canare clan house, and thought about Andi. Someday, when everything was resolved – when she was free and the sorcerers were exterminated and the Dominion and Michian were set free to rule themselves, he would ask her to marry him. Where would he do it, he wondered. There would be the room in the palace in Goldenfields, where he had kissed her and regained his memories, and they had regained the unity between them. Or alternatively, they c
ould go someplace beautiful in the Twenty Cities, or even back to Black Crag or Vincennes. Of course, depending on the part of the Avonellene Empire Andi had come from, she might believe it was the woman’s place to propose marriage.

  He was drowsy; the sky outside his tiny gable-end window was dark, and his body was tired. But his mind continued to race through the question of where to look for Andi, and what to do to prepare for an attack strong enough to cause him to lose his powers somehow. He fell asleep at length, hope and worry alternately winning the contest in his soul, but when he fell asleep at last, it was with an image of Andi wearing a green wedding gown as she stood in the cathedral at Oyster Bay.

  Chapter 24 – Invasion of Michian

  Alec awoke when the sky was beginning to show gray outside his window. Someone had stomped their feet loudly outside his door, trying to force their feet into a pair of boots, it sounded like. He sat up slowly and wiped the sleep from his eyes, then cloaked himself in invisibility as he walked down the hall to visit the privy. He returned to his room and sat on the mattress, slowly munching the last of his loaf of bread from the night before. The bones from his dinner mutton chops were piled in the corner of the room, and he reminded himself to be a good guest – he would make sure he took the bones back to the kitchen and toss them away on his way out.

  Someday he would be back and repay the Canare clan for their unintended hospitality, he told himself an hour later as he left the home and walked out to the street. Clad in his yellow gown, he ceased to use his Light power to appear invisible once he was on the street, and walked through the city to the gates of the palace. Alec stood outside the gates and pondered how to proceed. He knew the palace well, after having lived so many happy years there with Jeswyne. But he had no idea of whether Andi was truly held within it, or in the sorcerer’s headquarters.

  The palace was a huge collection of buildings, and the number of places Andi could be hidden was uncountable. He still could sense no indication of her location, and he wasn’t ready to try to broadcast a call out to her, risking detection by whatever inexplicable power held her captive, body and spirit. To use his Traveler energy would be to enter and depart the palace in the safest manner, but it would also wear him down if he repeated it too many times, so his best hope was to get lucky and guess correctly where she was being held.

  The dungeon cells beneath the armory were the strongest place for holding a prisoner, or they had been in his lifetime in the palace. That would be his first place to look. If she was not there, he would try the great ballrooms, where she could be watched and guarded so easily by so many ingenairii, sorcerers and guards at once. If not there, he would go to the tower in the private residential wing, where she could be isolated in a room high above any possible rescue attempt. And if she were not there, he would call out to her, to see if she could answer.

  He was the only yellow robe in the square, he realized suddenly. He was heavily armed among a passing stream of merchants and businessmen who carried no arms; the eyes of the palace guards were intently watching him, he recognized. Satisfied that he had a plan, he engaged his Traveler energy and disappeared from the view of the guards at the gate, leaving them gaping in wonder.

  Alec materialized in the main hall of the prison area, directly in front of a guard who was seated at a desk. Alec held his sword drawn, and immediately thrust the point at the neck of the astonished guard. “Where is the captive ingenaire?” Alec asked immediately.

  “What captive, my lord?” the guard sputtered in fear.

  “A girl, a captive ingenaire, taken captive two or three days ago. Which cell is she in?” Alec poked the sword hard, drawing blood.

  “We have no such captive, my lord. These are just criminals,” the guard answered, frightened by the inexplicable appearance of the grim-faced warrior who seemed ready to kill him.

  Alec used his Spirit energies, and sensed great distress, but no dishonesty. He dropped the spirit energy, re-engaged his Traveler energy, and transported himself to the great ballroom, where the empress of his day, his wife, Jeswyne, had signed treaties and hosted ceremonial dinners.

  He arrived in the middle of a conference of generals and military leaders, though no ingenairii were in the room. “Where is the captive ingenaire being held?” he shouted, engaging his Air energies to create a protective curtain around him.

  A dozen arrows flew at him and bounced off the barrier. “I’m not here to fight mortals, yet. I’m looking for a female ingenaire, a Warrior. Does anyone know where she is?” he shouted, turning as he spoke, looking at the three dozen or more men who stared at him in astonishment.

  There was no answer. Alec expanded his Air curtain, knocking men down and pushing them towards the perimeter of the room. “Who has an answer for me?” he roared, angry at a second consecutive unsuccessful effort to gather information. He picked out one man who wore a uniform of very high rank, and stalked over to him, as the pitch in the room rose markedly.

  “Do you know where she is?” Alec asked the marshal, placing his sword at the man’s throat.

  “Great lord, who can take a Warrior ingenaire hostage? Not us,” the officer protested. “We know nothing of such a captive.”

  Alec engaged his Spirit energy again to examine the man he faced, and again he found no dishonesty. “Where would such a captive be held?” Alec asked.

  “Only the other ingenairii could hold such a captive, I would think,” the officer told Alec. The man was struggling to keep his composure, Alec could tell, determined to appear professional and calm.

  “Where would they hold her?” Alec grilled him.

  “Where else? In their fortress at Poklonna Heights,” the officer replied.

  “In the old castle there?” Alec asked.

  “The old castle as it’s been rebuilt and refurbished,” Alec’s victim confirmed.

  “Is that where the sorcerers also reside?” Alec asked.

  “It is, my lord,” the officer answered.

  “Thank you,” Alec answered. “I will leave now. I would advise you to withdraw all your forces from the Dominion as fast as you can. The next time we meet I won’t be distracted by other matters, and I may be here on behalf of the Dominion,” he told the officers in the room, and then he disappeared.

  He was using his energy liberally, he knew, but he had to strike quickly, before word of his appearances spread, he told himself as he translocated to the tower room he had used to capture Jeswyne’s uncle Mikhail during the struggle prior to her reign. The room had a view of the castle gate as well as the castleyard, allowing him to scout out the premises.

  Unfortunately, the room was occupied by a sorceress when Alec arrived.

  She instantly understood the meaning of a man arriving in her chambers by translocating.

  “He has arrived! Alec is here!” she screamed mightily. And then Alec sensed her broadcasting a message with her spirit, repeating the warning that Alec was within the palace. Without a second thought, Alec stabbed her with his sword, silencing the warning that she had delivered, the message that robbed him of his hope of a stealthy approach. He stepped over the dead body and looked out the window.

  Below, in the yard between the gate and the castle entrance, a pair of men was looking up at the tower he was in. Alec ducked back from window, and considered his next option.

  The castle was not as large as the imperial palace, but it was sizable enough to be too large to search quickly. He did not know its architecture well enough to choose the most likely spots to examine first; he would have to search the building physically, either using up ingenaire energy or subjecting himself to continual attack as he walked through the building. He wished he had a squad of Ajacii with him to help fight this battle, but put the thought behind him as he prepared to begin his one man assault.

  Alec jumped through the window, using his Air energies to land softly on the courtyard pavement, and instantly slew the two men who had watched him.

  There were no other people in th
e courtyard, and Alec dashed forward, his bloody sword in one hand. He ran up a short flight of steps to a pair of massive doors, then pressed his shoulder against the door and burst into a grand entry hall, with a high ceiling and interior windows that looked down upon the entry. An arrow shot down at Alec from one window. He deflected it with his sword, then propelled himself rapidly up to the window the arrow had come from, lifted on a small boost of air pressure, and he shot through the window, to land on his feet in a room with three soldiers. With a slice of his sword he disabled two of them, cutting their hamstrings, and he pressed the point of his sword against the chest of the third, pressing the man back against the wall of the room.

  “Where are they keeping the captive ingenaire?” Alec shouted.

  “We are only mortals, my lord,” the man at the end of Alec’s sword cried.

  “Tell me where she is,” Alec commanded. “Dungeon, tower, stables? Where is she?”

  “There is a prisoner in the basement cells,” the man answered. “None of us but those with special powers are allowed down there now.”

  “How long have you been forbidden to go there?” Alec demanded.

  “Three days now,” the captive told him.

  Alec flicked his sword to slice the man’s arm, disabling him, then left the room, exiting through a door that led to a hall. A group of men were charging from the left, and Alec erected a wall of air, causing the men to unexpectedly smash into the invisible barrier, piling against one another and falling into a heap on the floor. He dropped his Air powers, and grasped his stone powers, causing the floor to melt away and open up beneath the stunned guards, so that they all tumbled to the floor below.

  He ran forward and hurdled above the open floor, then ran further down the hallway, and climbed a set of stairs, looking to go higher as a feint that would draw his pursuers away from the chambers in the basement below. He reached the top level of the tower, three floors above the level he had started at, and went into the empty room at the top, then opened the door and pulled his bow off his shoulder.