Elsbeth gestured everyone to follow and headed to the nearest gate opening. At the threshold she stopped and made smoothing motions. In heartbeats, the interior space inside the walls became a single smooth surface of stone. Boot heels clicking on the newly manifested rock, the mage went into the actual creation of the project they came here for.
Two circular daises of stone each about ten paces across and a pace high were erected near the middle of the giant yard about thirty paces apart. Deep groves thicker than Bannor’s leg appeared in the surface of the granite flooring, forming a radial pattern around each circular construction. A single pair of grooves, spaced a pace apart ran from the center of one dais to the other. With these etchings made, Elsbeth used her finger to trace the groove pattern. Where her finger traveled crystal material flashed and solidified, glinting in the sun light.
Elsbeth stepped back and stared at what she had done. She glanced at the group. “Doesn’t look like much, eh?”
“It’s not finished,” Dorian replied. “You didn’t put in the ‘seats of honor’ either.” She sniffed. “You also didn’t put in the hot-spring.”
The red-haired mage sighed. She flicked a hand at the middle of the area between the two circular daises. A single circular pedestal two paces across sprung up. From this piece, four massive throne-like chairs appeared at the cardinal points of the circle. Narrow steps between the chairs led up to the top of the area where the seatbacks joined. From out of the middle of that raised surface a waist high pillar of crystal shimmered into being.
Elsbeth swung around and made a swirling motion with her hand and one at time going around the dais on the left, twelve man-sized circular mirrors on thick onyx stands appeared. In front of each of these were seats where a single individual could look into the mirror. Bannor found the arrangement suspiciously like how the Kriar had their viewing crystals set around their portal artifices.
Once finished with the one dais, she repeated the process around the other, adding another twelve mirrors and twelve more seats.
“Why so many viewing mirrors?” Kalindinai asked when she was done. “There’s not that many of us.”
“Anyone with mage ability can help,” Elsbeth said with a shrug.
There was a rasp and thump of displaced air behind them. Bannor looked back to see that lord Loric had reappeared carrying a massive crystalline sphere on his shoulder. It looked heavy and the first step he took proved it—the ground shook. The item, his krillglobe, had threads in it that Bannor had seen associated with only very primal powers. Items like the shaladens and other ancient magicks like they had seen at Starholme. Whatever the device did, it had incredible power. He understood why Idun had been leery when its use had been mentioned.
“Well, looks like I arrived just in time,” he told the group, as he stumped up to them.
“That looks heavy…” Wren said. “Need some help?”
“Yes,” the lord said with a grunt. He shrugged the massive weight a bit to keep his balance. “It’s a bit too heavy for me to position alone. It weighs about two hundred stone.”
“Frell,” Daena lurched forward and put a steadying hand against the mass.
Bannor went to the man’s aide, and took up some of the weight. The moment he touched the crystal he felt the static rush of the thing’s power. This object was certainly no toy. Wren joined in and the three of them assisted Loric as he clambered up onto the smaller dais, the one Dorian had called the ‘seat of honor’. As the four of them surmounted the pedestal with the heavy orb, Bannor noticed the crystal centerpiece was concave at the top. Struggling to control the heavy weight, they settled the powerful magic device into the depression meant for it with a heavy thud.
“Whew,” Daena said. “That won’t be blowing away in a strong wind.”
“No, not likely,” Loric chuckled, wiping the perspiration from his brow.
“Holy dren, what did you make that thing out of?” Wren wondered. “See-through lead?”
“The material is a form of krill, and it is very dense.”
Idun was staring at the globe with narrowed eyes and folded arms. “Perhaps we should get on with this endeavor,” the goddess rumbled.
Gaea was looking around at the arrangements of stone and metal, eyes hooded and smiling. She drifted over and put a green arm around Daena’s waist. The big ascendant snuggled close. No true child of Gaea could resist when their mother wanted attention.
Head against Daena’s shoulder, Gaea fingered her lower lip. “I have a feeling…” She murmured, her voice echoing. “I think… I think it will work.”
“Of course it will work,” Aarlen growled. “However, I am of the mind of Idun. It won’t do dren if we don’t get it enchanted. I for one want to find the culprit behind this mess before Marna and her sycophants bury the evidence…”
“Hey!” Dominique shouted, cutting Aarlen off. The dark-haired warrior, Gabriella’s daughter, glared at the Magestrix. Her voice became a rasp that made Bannor’s skin prickle. “I strongly urge you to curtail that rant. If you want to proceed—proceed. Don’t think you can run down Marna when I’m around.”
Aarlen raised her chin and stared at Dominique. The smaller woman’s hands rested on the hilts of her double swords. She knew how to use them. Bannor had seen that up close. This was not a lady lightly braced or angered.
Sindra and Drucilla moved to either side of their mother, obviously ready to intervene. The expression on their faces said they took her threat seriously.
“Ladies,” Senalloy said in a soothing voice stepping between them. “While I’m certain a brawl between you would be entertaining, don’t you think there are more productive uses for your energies?”
Dominique snorted. “I’m fine. I am okay with competing with Marna and Eladrazelle. I am not okay with treating her as the enemy. She has to do what she thinks is right for her people.”
Aarlen made a growling sound. “Which includes kissing—”
“Enough,” Gaea rumbled. The sound of her voice made Bannor flinch. Even Aarlen recoiled a step. “I will not have my time with my children soiled by bickering. Let Marna do what she believes she has to. Leave us be understanding of that. She will have to be understanding when we locate the villain ahead of her and suffer them an inquiry of an exceedingly uncomfortable nature.”
“All right, Mother!” Daena lauded.
Gaea turned and held a hand out toward Ziedra. “Zee, my child, join me. We shall be the binding root that engages this marvelously creative work of Loric’s.”
Grinning, Ziedra floated over and took Gaea’s hand. The all-mother stepped over and touched Loric’s globe and yanked a mass of tangled threads of magic out of it and splayed it apart like she were filleting a fish. Some of the strands she pushed to Ziedra who looped them around her fingers, twisting and pushing like she was playing a child’s string game.
Bannor saw the gray-haired elder cringe and grip his skull. “Mother! Be careful! That took centuries…”
Gaea snapped her fingers. “If you want me to take more care, then get that coven going.” She yanked some more magic from the globe, twisting and shoving it into a new configuration, making Loric grit his teeth and moan.
“Damn it!” He snapped, swinging around. “Come on! Form a circle. Let’s do this.”
Frowning, all the mages gathered around the center dais, the seats of honor, and began chanting.
Bannor pulled Sarai back and urged the others not involved in the casting to step back. The magic being worked possessed huge potential. Anyone who accidentally closed the wrong gap would get very, very dead.
With Loric, Elsbeth, Aarlen, and Senalloy as their cardinal points, the coven worked the enchantment. Even though most of the mages hadn’t prepared, the energy of Eternity provided. All that was needed was willpower, knowledge, and creativity.
In a matter of a few breaths, glowing lines linked the krillglobe to the lines of crystal feeding through the channels all around through the daises. A golden glow
spread around the mirrors positioned over the magic lattice.
Complex structures and filaments of elemental energy spun and intertwined around the coven. Motes of light trailed in lazy orbits around their bodies. Gaea and Ziedra gleamed and shimmered, the light from their bodies casting shadows on the intent faces of the circle of wizards and sorceresses.
“My knowledge of magic is limited,” King T’Evagduran murmured in a hushed voice. “Still, that seems a rather significant amount of power…”
“Uh,” Wren coughed. “Yeah.” She blew out her cheeks. “I think we better step back a bit more…”
As she spoke, Bannor felt the heat on his face, and recoiled another few steps, pulling Sarai with him.
“This is fascinating,” Corim murmured by them. He had taken a seat on the bare stone with a tablet in his lap. He had blue quill and was scribbling notes at a ferocious rate.
“I have no idea what they’re doing,” Daena breathed, the light casting gleaming reflections on her shiny skin. She glanced at Corim. “But it sure is wizard.”
“Mother is really shining,” Janai remarked, rubbing shoulders with her One. “Look at her expression!”
“I don’t know if she should be participating in this so soon after her injuries,” Ryelle murmured with a frown. “Being involved favored her mood so much though, I couldn’t make myself ruin it.”
“Your mother so rarely gets to use all of her power,” the King murmured. “She’s always afraid she’ll break something or someone. To be able to unleash all of her potential must feel good when it’s something besides being in a fight.”
“It’s hard work,” Sarai said with a nod. “But she feels good.”
“My mother Cassandra is certainly excited,” Radian remarked, rubbing his gold face. “Well, as excited as she gets. A chance to learn some of father’s secrets always gets her glassy-eyed.”
Lady Desiray leaned against Wren. “Isn’t that the truth? Big castings like this—the expression on her face is like she’s getting it between the sheets.”
Wren put her arm around the older woman. “Mom and Dad aren’t as into it as she is, but they seem to be having a good time.”
“Are you jesting?” Desiray said. “Your father has been itching to work on a major magic project with Loric.”
The blonde savant pursed her lips. “You’re right. It’s tough to tell with Mother. She takes everything so seriously.”
“So, it’s begun?” an echoing female voice asked from behind them.
Bannor looked back and saw Kel’varan Damay shimmer in as though she were a spirit becoming solid. Even though he had been around these people for days, he still had to catch himself at times. The ascendants were each so striking in their appearance. Damay was no longer a diminutive little woman. The older savant of forces had become statuesque paragon of feminine traits that, as Damay remarked, was ‘anything but subtle’. It appeared, the eldest ascendant had embraced her exotic new looks. She was dressed in an almost transparent blouse with dark jewels sewn into fabric and patterns stitched into the surface in black thread. The light from the coven-casting gleamed from the many necklaces, bracelets, and rings she wore.
“You should have hung around. You missed Aarlen and Dominique almost throttling one another.”
Damay swept over and put an arm around Wren and leaned against her, opposite Desiray. The elder savant raised an eyebrow. “A shame, but it’s not truly entertaining unless blows are actually struck.” She blew out her cheeks. “Oh my, that’s some—” She blinked, and put a hand to her forehead. “Big magic. Aie. I think I’ll turn down my savant senses.”
“Yes, it was making me dizzy too,” Wren said. The younger savant raised her chin. “So, May, where have you been… hmmm?”
“I have been in meetings with the Advocate,” the woman answered with sniff. “You might be the responsible party for our being a part of the Protectorate, but he’s looking to me provide some adult supervision.”
Wren tilted her head. “Gaea is not an adult?”
“Wren, we both know that in many ways she’s still very young and very impetuous. Being flesh is very new. From all indications we’re kind of stuck with her.”
The younger savant leaned back. “Stuck? May, I cannot believe that just came out of your mouth. What happened to reverence for she that is everything-you-live-for?”
Damay scowled. “Gaea our creator and this avatar are very different creatures.” Her brow furrowed. “I mean they’re the same… but their aspects…”
Wren held up a hand. “Don’t hurt yourself trying to explain it, I understand. So, meeting with Koass… Dressed like that?” She pulled at the older woman’s sleeve. “I don’t think so. You didn’t just come from the meeting. Your cheeks are a tad too rosy for that…”
“Faugh,” Damay sputtered. “I don’t know what you’re implying.”
“That power potion perfume is a good hint, May,” Desiray said tapping the side of her nose. “Remember, I was the one that gave it to you.”
“What are you two on about?” Damay wondered. “I’m just starting to get used to and enjoy this beastly huge body. Can’t I dress and primp nicely without being suspected of some lascivious activity?”
“No,” Wren responded with a grin.
“I think I know who it is,” Daena confided with a wink. “When I ducked out for snacks I saw her sauntering off with Tarkath Chauser.”
“Chauser?” Wren remarked. “Come to think, he was about the only one not hanging on our winged lady friends. Maybe he likes tall savant ladies instead?”
“The Tarkath was very gracious,” Damay said with a trace of self-consciousness. “I found him to be a refined gentleman with a proper sense of a lady’s dignity.”
Wren grinned. “I had no idea you were into military men.”
Desiray smirked. “More like military men being into her.”
The white-haired woman dodged out of reach as Damay lunged around Wren. “I am not some cheap tart,” the elder said with an acerbic tone. Bannor noted that her face was red. “And I refuse to be baited with such childish banter.”
“Well, at least he’s older,” Radian remarked, rubbing the back of his head. “Remember, she was dating Darin for a little while there.”
“I was just looking for company,” Damay bristled, glaring at Radian with glowing gold eyes.
“Can you blame her?” Sarai wanted to know. “I’ve seen that boy. I don’t know how Desiray keeps the girls away from him.”
Desiray chuckled. “I don’t. Everia does—with a stick. So, only big girls who aren’t afraid of Everia can get close to him.” She gave Damay an arch expression. “And I can’t imagine what you said to her that she wasn’t chewing on your ankle the whole time.”
The eldest ascendant sighed. “Desiray, you know I am a model of rational discourse. I would never threaten one of your children.”
“Bribery,” Wren judged. “I bet it was books…” Her voice trailed off as her attention was drawn back to the coven enchantment. “Whoa. Do you feel that?”
As Wren said it, Bannor felt a pulsation in his nola, at the same time the threads of Eternity resonated and hummed. All three daises crackled with magic, sparks and bolts of power arcing and rasping in the air around the constructs.
“I have been around a bit,” Damay remarked, gaze intent on the scene. “The only magic I’ve seen this strong was when we created Gaea and when the coven worked on the genemar.”
Loric and the rest of the circle of mages were almost lost in the weave of wards, bindings and frame-works of sorcery and magical force. The complexity of the pattern had become very like a living sentient thing. He found it disturbingly similar to the aliveness that he sensed in the genemar. He noticed the strain written on the faces of all the members of the coven. Even Gaea and Ziedra who possessed immense magical strength appeared to be struggling.
The sound of their voices rose and fell, bodies rocking forward and back as if they were getting ready to he
ave a giant weight. With a unified shout of effort, the bound magic hovering around the coven imploded into darkness, trailing streamers and sparks of energy as it rasped into the crystalline network of grooves. As the magic hit a bright glow flicked along the lattice making the stone hum and resonate under foot. The reverberation continued for long moments then dwindled into a low thrumming.
The daises all gleamed with a shiny radiance, the stone having taken on a glassy surface texture. The clear crystal stripes linking all the mirrors to Loric’s krillglobe gave off a golden illumination, and rainbows of color pulsed through the connections like blood. Tendrils of fine mist stirred around the edges of all the mirrors, and the reflective surfaces shimmered like the surface of water.
Loric and the other mages all but collapsed, leaning on one another or sitting down hard on the stone with grunts of exhausted effort.
Bannor looked around again. With Gaea and Ziedra’s help they had created what was essentially one giant magic item. While not the strength of a shaladen, this creation did possess immense potential. The threads of eternity bent and swayed around the thing’s power as though blowing in stiff breeze.
Gaea wiped at her brow and sat down in one of the stone ‘seats of honor’. “My, that was more taxing than I imagined it would be.”
Ziedra sat down on the chair arm. She blew a few strands of hair off her forehead. Reaching up, she pulled a few strands of already gray hair and examined them. Streaks of pure white now ran through what used to be obsidian black tresses. “Great, more hair damage. I feel like an old woman.”
“White is a great color,” Desiray remarked with a grin as she walked over to her husband. Hands on hips she looked around at the daises and the glowing orb. “Did it work?”
“It appears—” Loric grunted. “It appears we were successful. It will be a few moments before I am recovered enough to find out.”
Even goddess Idun was sitting on the ground looking dizzy. “I—I have—never—done a casting that took so much out of me. I am of Loric’s mind, the bindings did lock down well. However,” she swallowed. “However, I also will need to catch my breath.”
Reality's Plaything 5: The Infinity Annihilator Page 59
