Crystal Sorcerers

by William R. Forstchen

  Chapter 7

  Pina glanced again at the report, before continuing to interrogate Imada.

  "The medical diagnosis shows you've been through a lot, young man. You were given up for dead months ago."

  "I never would have made it without Vena here," replied Imada, gesturing to the girl beside him.

  "Yes, so you've told us," responded Pina dryly. "You seem to have had a very harrowing time of it."

  His glance fell on Vena, who stood a little behind Imada, her head slightly lowered, obviously unused to being in a palace and addressing such high ranking sorcerers. Even as he watched, Imada reached out to grasp her hand in a gesture of reassurance.

  Pina carefully kept his face blank, but inside he smiled. How long had it been since his first case of puppy love?

  Still, the story was almost too pat, and he was responsible for the realm during Allic's absence. Making a decision, he turned his glance to Valdez, who was standing over to the side. "I'd like you to escort these two young lovers back to the healers for a more complete check."

  Valdez nodded approvingly.

  Imada started to look a little flustered, as if unsure what to say, so Valdez said diplomatically, "There is no way you can join your friends at present. They are on a mission for Jartan. So, we have the time to make sure you are totally fit before we restore you to duty." He motioned for them to follow him and walked out of Pina's office.

  "My daughter is about your age and has heard of your arrival and adventures. She pointed out that with all the outlanders gone, you two wouldn't really know anyone here, and has asked if you would care to join us for dinner."

  Imada hesitated, but Vena said smoothly, "Thank you. It would be nice to have another girl to talk to right now. I'd never dreamed that I would ever be in a palace, and even with Imada's support I feel almost lost." Valdez nodded absently, letting her prattle on.

  "You're doing fine, Kochanski, just fine," Leti said.

  He smiled and gave her what he hoped was a confident wink.

  At least this approach was much easier. Before, he had traveled to places he could not see, guided by symbolic logic, or wherever his imagination might take him. Now Kochanski could clearly see where he was going. The forest world seemed to fill the entire sky; and since there was no sensation of movement, the vast planet appeared to be racing up to smash them.

  It was strange, he thought. He knew space was a vacuum. Yet there was no sensation of the absolute cold. He still found himself breathing and even hearing Leti as she spoke softly, giving him directions.

  Of course, only their spirits were riding the Godchair toward the planet. When they had departed, he had even looked back to his "real" self, who sat as if lost in a deep slumber, with Saito and Shigeru standing to either side of the chair as guards. He knew that if any harm came to his body, or to the actual physical presence of the chair still resting on Uye, then he would be forever doomed to be a wandering spirit. There was also the risk that his spirit could be injured by forces unseen. At that moment his real body would simply cease to breathe.

  "The battle's reached its climax," Leti whispered.

  Directly below, Kochanski could see what appeared to be a wall of fire encasing an inner shield which was glowing white hot.

  "Let's speed this up a bit," Leti suggested.

  Nodding, Kochanski let the directions pass through his mind. Their speed instantly doubled. The world came racing up, the lit crescent marking the approaching dawn shifting to the edge of the globe and disappearing over the horizon.

  The vast red orb of the star shifted over the horizon as well, passing in an instant through a spectacular sunset that sparkled through the upper bands of the planet's atmosphere.

  The pair dropped through the upper atmosphere, Kochanski slowing the chair as they swept in toward the planet's surface.

  "Shift us over behind the mountain range north of the base," Leti said, pointing to the high peaks about ten miles away from the battle.

  Kochanski spared a quick look down at the fighting, a hundred miles below. Bright flashes illuminated the dark sky, the shield snapping white hot with each impact, so that it seemed like brittle glass about to burst under the strain. There was a blinding flash. For a brief moment the shield went dark, then came back up, smaller than before, and obviously weaker.

  Kochanski knew there were people dying down there, sorcerers of Jartan's that he had most likely never met, but comrades all the same. His fear was gone, burned away by the grim determination to finish the recon as quickly as possible so that a relief force could be dropped in before all was lost.

  Turning his thoughts from the battle, Kochanski guided the chair toward the towering mountains silhouetted with the lavender glow of the approaching dawn.

  "Between those two peaks, a bit off to our right," Leti whispered. Kochanski propelled the chair forward--but felt the slightest of tremors, a vague uneasiness as if someone were standing behind him and looking.

  "You felt it?" Leti murmured.

  Kochanski nodded.

  "Get us behind those peaks." Her voice held a controlled urgency.

  The mountains now filled their view: Peaks sheathed with mantles of ice, carved by the ceaseless winds into a wild cathedral of fluted columns, soaring arches, and high vaulted caverns illuminated by the crystalline red of dawn.

  Kochanski focused on a narrow cavern near the summit of the mountain, and soon the icy walls embraced them into their protective folds. With a sigh of relief, Kochanski brought the chair to a halt and settled it down on the cavern floor.

  "Did they see us?" he finally asked.

  "Something out there swept us," Leti said, and Kochanski realized that even this demigoddess had known a moment of fear. "It didn't lock onto us, though, so I think we got through without any problem."

  The two smiled at each other with relief. Then Leti said, "Let's take another look," and Kochanski slid the chair forward to the edge of the cavern.

  Far below, in the distant valley, the battle continued to rage. From a hundred different points, sheets of fire and energy bolts slammed into the shimmering defensive shielding.

  "Can they hold out?" Kochanski asked.

  Even as he spoke, a blinding hot flash snapped across the field.

  Leti was silent, grim-faced.

  "Over there," she whispered finally, and Kochanski looked to where she was pointing. A thin point of white light, tinged in red, was pulsing and glowing inside the fold of a crevice that flanked the main battlefield.

  "Their portal jump point?" Kochanski asked.

  "I want to get a closer look at it," Leti replied. "Bring us in underneath it, then rise slowly. We'll break the surface for a quick look and pull back down if threatened."

  "That's right on top of them," Kochanski replied, trying hard to sound matter-of-fact, but knowing that his fear was evident.

  "They'll be sweeping a lot farther out, expecting an approach to come in from a distance. If we're in almost on top of them, we'll have the element of surprise. Besides, this chair and its abilities are a well-kept secret, so they won't expect it, or be looking for it."

  "All right, then," Kochanski replied, swallowing hard. Focusing his attention, he gazed at the jump point, calculating distances, and in his mind drew an imaginary line which terminated farther up the crevice.

  A shudder passed through the Godchair, and the ground rose to swallow them. Kochanski guided them through the darkness by probing forward with his mind through a shadow realm of projected image and phantomlike echoes of energy.

  "Can you sense where we are?" Leti asked cautiously.

  A bit shocked, Kochanski realized that what he had already come to take as second nature was a complete mystery to the demigod by his side. The realization gave him a sense of satisfaction with his ability, but it was slightly unnerving to think that a being of such power was now totally dependent on his ability for guidance, and for survival.

  A ripple of energy swept past him.

&
nbsp; "There is something powerful, malevolent out there," she said nervously.

  In the blackness he could see, as if with other eyes, the goal looming closer, the pulsing energy of the portal, surrounded now by other forms, radiating power. They were unlike anything he had encountered in his practice sessions back on Haven, or even in his encounter with Sarnak. These forms emanated a darkness deeper than the blackness of the rock through which his spirit form drifted. Occasionally the darkness would swirl outward, probing, and for a moment he would feel cornered, his heart freezing; then the probe would sweep on. As he drew closer, though, he could feel his confidence growing. They were constantly sweeping the area, but had not detected him.

  The energy glow of the portal now filled the world before him. Shifting to the left, and judging that the place he had selected was directly overhead, Kochanski cautiously guided the chair upward. In an instant the blackness gave way to a blue, opaque light. He felt a momentary thrill over the precision of his approach. Exactly as planned he had emerged inside a ridge overlooking the portal.

  Leti gave him a nod of approval.

  Carefully, Kochanski edged the chair forward to breach the edge of the hill, projecting outward just far enough to see the world before them.

  Not a hundred yards below, the portal stood revealed, surrounded by a hundred or more demons, while a larger circle of demons faced outward, watching intently.

  Kochanski tried to suppress a ripple of fear by forcefully reminding himself that he was only here in spirit, and thus invisible to normal eyes, and that Leti was bending all of her tremendous power to blocking out unseen eyes as well.

  "Why such concentration around the portal?" Leti whispered through the mind link.

  Kochanski could not answer, and after a moment of watching he lifted his gaze to the battle raging not a mile away. The glow of the shielding was up again to white hot intensity, and there was another explosive snap as the shield overloaded. Wild howls of delight burst from the demon host as it winged over the besieged outpost. The demons were unlike any he had ever seen before--bigger, darker, and all of them frighteningly capable of wielding the Essence for the casting of bolts in battle. The demons he had first met and feared on Haven were mere children to the power he now saw.

  The defensive shielding of the outpost came up again, this time as a small cone of light not a hundred yards across. The outer buildings of the fortress city were now beyond protection.

  "Inner defense line," Leti said grimly. "They're down to the end."

  White-clad figures emerged from the unprotected buildings. Several lifted into the air. But a rain of fire arced down and in from every side. The white forms crumpled, fell, those in the air flashing into incandescent brilliance before tumbling away, trailing fire and smoke.

  "For Christ's sake, can't we help them?"

  "No."

  Kochanski's sense of fairness rebelled, although he knew the correctness of what she was saying. Gathering intelligence had to come first; then it would be up to Allic to evaluate and consider the possibility of a sortie to take the pressure off. But the screams could still be heard, and the lurid light of the flaming city cast an ugly glow across the morning sky.

  "I estimate over seven hundred of Gorgon's demons here." Leti's voice was cold, and her tone snapped Kochanski back to the harsh reality of what had to be done.

  Tearing his gaze away from the destruction, he looked over at the ghostly image of his companion and saw that though her voice might seem detached, her face was contorted with pain and rage.

  "Don't look at me," she said softly. "Keep watching the portal for anything that comes through. I've got to determine who is leading this assault."

  Kochanski followed her orders, but there was nothing to report. The portal was still surrounded by the demon host, yet nothing was coming in or out. Long minutes passed, and then ever so slowly the portal started to pulse with a deeper intensity. The inner circle of demons began to nod excitedly, their guttural growls echoing up the narrow valley, momentarily blocking out the roar of battle.

  "Something's up," Kochanski whispered.

  The light of the portal shifted suddenly to the deepest of reds, and doubled in size so that the host had to step back or be pulled in.

  "What in the name of the gods?" Leti whispered.

  An expectant hush came over the assembly below them. As one, the demons went to their knees, taloned and winged arms stretched forward, fanged heads lowered.

  The portal snapped and flared again with a blinding intensity, turning into a pillar of flame half a hundred yards across. The battle beyond came to a stop, and Kochanski spared a quick glance up to see that the enemy host had broken off its assault and was pulling back toward the portal. Feeble shouts echoed on the wind, the defenders crying out in triumph at the apparent retreat.

  The sky above the crevice was darkened by the wheeling circle of retreating demons who were arcing in and out, their harsh cries filled with a chilling note of lust and joy.

  "It's not a retreat," Leti whispered softly. "Something else is pulling them back here."

  The ground trembled and shook, the trees surrounding the deep ravine swaying, branches rattling. Hosts of birds and reptilian creatures soared into the air, scattering madly, their panicked calls counterpointing the mad shouts of the demons.

  The trees nearest the portal started to smoulder, and roiling clouds of acrid smoke coiled off the branches. With thunderous cracks, the forest exploded into flames, the heat spiraling upward to jostle the demons above, who now cried out in triumph.

  The trembling of the ground shifted, became deeper, with a booming, thunderous roar.

  "Something's coming through," Leti cried, and Kochanski could sense the fear in her voice.

  The portal started to swirl about itself, taking on the appearance of a maelstrom. The vast circle of demons came to their feet, arms extended, the power of the Essence emanating from them, drawing the portal ever wider, while overhead the hundreds of demons circled in tighter, forming a living wall about the opening.

  "They're ripping the portal wide open!" Leti shouted.

  "Maybe we should get out of here," Kochanski whispered.

  "Wait. We have to be sure it's him."

  The dimensional gate flashed white, then black as night. Kochanski felt as though he was staring into the blackness of infinite space, or into the darkest pit of hell.

  Yet even in the darkness there was a deeper blackness that oozed upward, sickening and vile as a noisome pestilence; as if the rot of decay had taken form and now crawled out into the realm of the living. Formless, the darkness slithered upward through the blackness of the portal.

  The wheeling host and those upon the ground fell silent, and from a thousand demons Kochanski sensed a redoubling of effort.

  The darkness exploded. With a blinding rush, the blackness soared upward, wreathed in blood-red flashes of light, cloaked in steam and oily smoke. Mighty arms stretched outward, taloned hands reaching up as if to snatch the very sun from the sky. A grim visage took form, fanged mouth open. A booming roar echoed across the hills, drowning the delighted howls of the assembled host.

  "Gorgon," Leti whispered in terrified awe.

  The head turned slowly, deliberately, eyes of fire scanning, and Kochanski's heart turned to ice as the sweeping gaze fixed upon him and his companion.

  "Yes, Gorgon," and though a whisper, the words seemed to have form and weight, crushing Kochanski.

  "Get us out!" Leti yelled.

  Instinctively, Kochanski willed the chair straight up. Looking over the edge of the chair, he was horrified to see the entire side of the hill sloping downward in a wild explosion. And out of the explosion a dark form soared upward, hands reaching as if to grab him.

  "A little toy of Jartan's, is it not?"

  The voice was no longer dark, but rather almost gentle, chiding.

  "I wish to see it," Gorgon continued. Kochanski hesitated. The voice whispered through his mind, cutting i
nto him. He felt his limbs grow weak, his resolve melting as the form raced closer.

  "Wait for me," Gorgon said softly.

  Wide-eyed, Kochanski saw the form grow closer. The screams of Leti were audible, but somehow the words simply did not come through. And then he remembered.

  "Kiss my ass!" Kochanski roared.

  The ghostly image of the chair soared straight up into the heavens, even as the talons closed over, the world rocking beneath him with curses of rage.

  "Hang on!" Kochanski shouted.

  The planet dropped away. Within seconds the curve of the horizon was visible, the angle growing sharper, the disk of the planet taking form. Kochanski could see the moon hovering above him, its icy form reflecting the dark red of the sun which filled half the sky.

  The moon's surface rushed into sharp focus. Swinging in, the couple instinctively braced for what was surely going to be an impact. Kochanski felt the now familiar sensation of a slowing down, a merging. Momentarily, he closed his eyes and then opened them.

  Allic stood before him.

  "It's Gorgon--he's following us," Leti cried, leaping from the chair.

  Weak-kneed, Kochanski stood, not embarrassed by the fact that he was visibly trembling.

  "Circle in and form a shield around the chair!" Allic roared. White-clad figures emerged from the concealment of the hidden buildings, heading toward the point where the portal had been formed. "Get that portal ready to go. The moment Storm returns, we're out of here."

  Still numb, Kochanski could only look around as his comrades came racing toward him.

  Allic grabbed Kochanski by the shoulders and looked into his eyes.

  "Are you all right?"

  Leti turned and came to Allic's side.

  "He was wonderful. Gorgon came on so fast I was damn near paralyzed. If he hadn't thought quickly, we would have been taken."

  Kochanski was unable to respond. If he had acted, as far as he could remember it was from instinct driven by fear.

  Then Leti raced off to organize the defense.