by Bob Blink
The middle section of the staffs were made of two layers. The outer layer was covered with the usual runes and glyphs, with the personalized section heavily used. However, the section could be unlocked, and rotated around the central shaft, revealing a series of additional symbolic spells. With a spell selected and the rotating shaft locked in place, it was nearly impossible to spot the seam that allowed the outer section to rotate. One of the series of symbols, common to both Carif’s and Mande’s staffs, had been identified as the necessary construct to trigger the powerful green beam of magical energy. On Carif’s staff, it had been exposed, and hence ready for use, when she had been captured. The Reading had confirmed what the string of symbols was for.
Unfortunately they had lost Carif before they could drag out of her the necessary phrase to activate the spell. The glyphs were highly unusual, most unique and previously unknown. A careful search by their best scholars showed that fully half of the symbols used in that engraved casting were not to be found in any of their references. The same was true of the other spells, only a couple of which they had been able to extract the purpose of before the woman had died despite the application of wizard healing in an attempt to keep her alive. The poison that Daria had used on her had worn her down over the months between being struck by Daria’s arrow and her capture.
Nycoh had recognized a couple of the glyphs, showing them the same unusual symbols on her own staff. When asked where she had learned of the symbols, Nycoh had shrugged and said they came to her unbidden one day. As for the phrase that accompanied the symbols, Nycoh explained that she didn’t use a special phrase in the application she used them with. She needed them on the staff, but didn’t require the typical Caster’s trigger. Even Nycoh hadn’t recognized a number of the symbols.
Great hope had been raised when they had visited the hideout in Yaul that Carif had provided the location of under the pressures of the Reading. With Daria along to watch for and disarm potential traps, they had made a careful search of the residence. They had uncovered a cache of power crystals, Caster’s Foil, a number of very old scrolls, and more than a dozen staffs, although each of these were the more typical staffs carried by any Senior Caster in the Guild. All had been locked away behind a special “stay-away” spell of immense power. That was probably why Shym, the last missing member of the Eight, hadn’t raided the cache. Like most such spells, when the Caster responsible died, the spell lost its potency, and they were able to access the contents without difficulty. Simply placing a hand on the shimmering blue barrier of light was enough to cause it to fade away.
That was not the case where they found the book. A much smaller and more carefully protected spot that Carif had revealed contained the ancient text. It had been protected by one of the other spells triggered by the unusual runes on Carif’s staff, and had not failed upon her death. They had discovered the book, but had been unable to access it through the protective energies that shielded it. Only when Daim suggested they bring the staff and touch the power crystal to the field, had the barrier collapsed and allowed them to retrieve the treasure.
The book was older than any that had been seen before. It was written in a strange language, with illustrations and glyphs that represented a number of spells. Powerful magic was inherent in the text, as after a period of time staring at the pages, the text would transform itself somehow into the language of the scholar looking at it. This was shown as both Ash’urn and one of the Guild’s scholars insisted it had translated into their corresponding languages. The contents could then be read, at least the descriptive text that explained what each of the spells catalogued was intended to do. Unfortunately, the phrases that triggered the various spells were not translated, as the language of magic couldn’t change with time and still function.
Even worse, a great many spells were incomplete. Many of the pages were torn, sometimes with runes and glyphs missing, or equally important, the triggering phrase. The book had to have been protected by magic against aging or it could never have survived, but at some point in its past the magic had failed or been defeated. That had allowed the book to degrade before it was rediscovered. It was currently protected against degradation much as Daim’s old books were, but the spell was from that period in time, and the book was obviously far older.
“You haven’t found a way to recover what you need?” Rigo asked.
Ash’urn shook his head. “There must be a way. Carif and her inner circle figured it out. There are enough of the symbols from the spell we want repeated in other spells we can get most of it, if only those unknown symbols could be vocalized. As yet we have not found the link.”
“There was nothing else at the hideout in Yaul?”
“Nothing,” Nycoh said. “I have personally overseen tearing the place to the ground to check.”
“We have spent countless hours with Daim, scholars from the Guild, as well as Nycoh and myself. We have the resources of all the known libraries, but there appears to be nothing. I am beginning to believe that the necessary link was destroyed in the explosion Carif triggered at her residence when we attacked her there.”
“You don’t make it sound very hopeful,” Rigo replied sadly.
“Jeen had a good idea, but we have just begun to pursue it. Nycoh and I were discussing the matter when you caught up to us. She recovered a number of very old artifacts from Ald-del when she went to get the viewer that eventually led them to us in Sedfair. Maybe a clue can be found there. There are a variety of very unusual items, and over a hundred scrolls. There is one odd crystal structure, made mostly of emerald. It is twelve sided and clearly designed for some special purpose, although we have no idea what.”
“Have you been able to pass any of your new skills along?” Rigo asked Nycoh.
Her control over the very earth in accessing the deeply buried field of lava and bringing it somehow close to the surface was something that remained a complete mystery. She had explained she could sense the earth and knew how to do what she did, although not why. She also explained that it should have been far less taxing than it had been.
“The magic I am acquiring does not pass the usual way, at least not to everyone. Only Jeen has shown the smallest flicker of ability with some of the new skills. I have encouraged her to learn the symbolic magic, which, like you, she has only dabbled with. I believe that is a requirement. Being versed in both inherent and symbolic magic is necessary, but it is not sufficient. Lyes is more than competent in both, yet he is unable to take away anything from my attempts to pass my new abilities to him. Something else is required, but I cannot say what.”
There was little more to be said. Something was just outside their reach. Danger threatened. Rigo couldn’t remember a time for many years when danger of one form or another hadn’t been lurking, and they weren’t prepared for it. They didn’t even know exactly what they might be facing. Rigo worried that whatever or whoever it was, they already knew the answers to the mysteries Ash’urn and Nycoh were investigating.
“Let us know if Mitty has any other visions,” Nycoh said as she and Ash’urn prepared to continue to the library. “I fear time is short.”
Chapter 5
When Rigo and Mitty arrived the following morning, a massive fire was burning in the huge fireplace of the castle’s greeting room where King Rhory and Queen Mos’pera often conducted discussions with foreign dignitaries and senior nobles of the kingdom. Jeen had already left for Kellmore, but had alerted the King and Queen that they would have visitors, and they had prepared accordingly. This far from both the moderating effects of the ocean and the constant warm winds of the Ruins, winter still had a bit of a grip on the land. Outside the snow had receded from the heavy drifts of just a month ago, but the cold wind from the Great White Mountains to the north still kept the temperatures well below freezing at night, and often only marginally above in the day. Today the skies were clear and blue and the sun shining, but somehow it still appeared weak and Rigo knew it would be a few weeks yet before s
pring fully won the battle and the trees began to bloom once again.
The casual dress of the royal pair showed this was more like a family gathering than a formal meeting, despite the use of the greeting area, and they embraced both Rigo and Mitty warmly when they were escorted into the waiting area. They hadn’t seen much of the couple since their Binding and the party that had been held in the castle along with the second ceremony held here in the Three Kingdoms some months before. Since then Mitty had significantly improved her command of the local language, and she could now converse without Rigo needing to translate for her, although she still had trouble with the accent, and frequently jumbled the verb tenses somewhat.
“Jeen told us the bad news,” King Rhory said, as he led them to the comfortable padded chairs near the fire. A selection of pastries had been set aside, along with heated wine and a selection of juices. “I had thought it too much to hope that after the failure of the attack in southern Kellmore we wouldn’t see any more of them.”
“As winter pulls back in the north, the heavy rains of the southern areas are also abating,” Rigo said. “It is likely that will encourage even more raids in the coming weeks. The goal of the raid in Sedfair appears fairly obvious, but we have no idea what they were seeking in the Three Kingdoms.”
“At least we now know the barrier that protects them loses its effectiveness once they begin their attack,” Rhory noted. “That makes it possible to fight them. Most were apparently killed in the raid in Sedfair the other day.”
“It still protects them as they penetrate into the Kingdoms,” Mos’pera warned. “It means any fighting will have to be done where they select, and most likely where innocent civilians are at risk. The barrier is something that hasn’t been seen until recently. What if they are able to make it more effective and protect them individually?”
“Sulen is a long way from the borders,” Mitty noted, hoping to sooth the Queen who seemed on edge.
“Not far enough,” Queen Mos’pera said, causing Rigo to look at her more intently. He now saw the dark smudges under her eyes, and the worry in the eyes themselves. He should have noticed when he came in, but had been distracted by the warm greeting of his old friends.
“Has something happened?” Rigo asked, looking from Mos’pera to Rhory, and then back.
“A foretelling last night,” Rhory said softly.
“It was probably triggered by Jeen’s warning,” Mos’pera said. “It was quite vivid.”
Rigo waited. One never knew if she felt it prudent to share what she had seen. This time, however, she seemed willing to tell them what she had witnessed.
“I saw Pagner in flames,” Mos’pera said, an uncertainty in her voice that Rigo had never heard before. “There were small men on strange looking mounts. You have told me about the Baldari and the reptilian looking creatures they ride, but I never really understood how strange they look. They made odd sounds, like a dog that has been beaten and whines in fear, but these creatures were anything but. They were aggressive, and would attack on their own if their rider were lost.”
“Most of the marketplace was in ruins, the shops and storehouses in the great square burning out of control. The castle itself was under attack, the guard clearly overwhelmed by the sheer number and ferocity of the Baldari. Those with magic that opposed them were only slightly more successful. The attackers seemed immune to all but the most powerful wizards, and certain individuals among them lashed back with magical strikes of their own. I saw a group working together. They did not appear to be Baldari, but were clearly working with or for them. Beams of bright white and green magic lashed out, becoming embedded into the walls of the castle, which would then seemingly crumble and collapse. The entire north wall was quickly stripped away, exposing the guard’s forces to another wave of the vicious fighters who seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was clear the castle would be lost.”
Mos’pera stopped talking, and as her eyes stopped looking inward, she looked at Rigo and Mitty.
“This was the most vivid foretelling I have ever had. Sometimes the visions are vague or hard to interpret, but this was brutal and direct. There is little doubt that Kellmore will feel the focus of the Baldari’s continued attacks. I fear Branid cannot be far behind.”
“Was there anything in the vision to warn when this might happen?” Rigo asked. He knew that often Mos’pera gained subtle clues to the timing of the events she foretold. The failure of the towers and the protective barrier she witnessed more than a decade before it actually occurred.
She shook her head. “There was nothing I could sense that would help very much. The season was summer or fall, as the trees were full with leaves, and something made me feel it would be soon, but that was a sensation more than anything else. If forced to guess, I would say this year or the next. Perhaps there will be another vision that will provide more insight. They often come in waves.” She shuddered at the thought, and Rhory reached over to take her hand.
Mos’pera gathered her strength and looked toward Mitty. “What of your own visions. Do you still have them?”
Mitty shook her head. “Nothing since the night of the raid in southern Kellmore. I saw nothing to warn of the attack in Fernwah, and I have seen nothing of the strange chamber I told you about. It was one of the things I wished to speak with you about. For a time I was wondering if the lack of visions were an indication that the problem had passed. The attack on Fernwah, and now your own vision suggest otherwise. Now I don’t know what to think.”
“I cannot advise you on the visions you have,” Mos’pera said. “I was wrong with the advice I gave you before. Daim and I have talked at length, and the Farvision you display is a very different thing than the ability I have. We are all convinced what you see is current, not a foretelling of events to come, although Daim is very adamant that you will develop that ability as well. Some of your early visions could have been either, and perhaps you are already showing signs of being able to produce both foretelling and farsight. I cannot say how you will be able to distinguish between the two if you do. I would speculate that your current visions of the woman are somehow being blocked, except that would not explain why you failed to see the attack in Fernwah. It would be difficult to believe she could block everything. Of course, my own ability is sporadic, and there is no pattern as to what I see and what I don’t. Remember also, it has been less than a season since your first visions. It took me time before my strength reached maturity. Perhaps you will become stronger in time.”
Mitty shook her head. “It is not as if I want to have more of the visions. They are frightening, and reach into one’s very soul. But I fear that there is something we should know, and my not having the visions is leaving us unprepared.”
“I understand, but there is little you can do. There is also no one to guide you. Even in Daim’s time, the ability was scarce, and he had no personal contact with any who had the ability.”
“It is going to be difficult to protect ourselves if they can come through the supposedly impassable mountains and ride up streams that have long been a barrier to us,” King Rhory stated bluntly.
“Plans are being made to monitor the borders,” Rigo explained. “We will watch the Great River where they appear to have appeared last time. We will also patrol the mountains, and especially along the southern border of Lopal. The mountains thin on the eastern border where Lopal meets the Ruins. We would expect the Baldari to come from that direction. Much as they come out of the wastelands to attack Sedfair.”
“What is being done in Sedfair?” Mos’pera asked. “Is there any way to learn where they come from to attack Mitty’s homeland?”
It will be much more difficult there,” Rigo admitted. “The Wastelands along Sedfair’s borders contain more of the dead zones than our own, making exploration slow and difficult. Several teams have been sent out, and they are searching for the entry point. One group is attempting to track back along the route the last band seems to have followed, but the Wastelands co
ver all signs of passage. At least to date, no Baldari forces have been known to come over the mountains into southern Sedfair. That suggests that the mountains pose as much of a barrier to them as they do to us.”
“Perhaps an expedition needs to be sent beyond the mountains,” Rhory said. “It might be necessary to discover where these Baldari originate and how many of them there are. If we could bring the might of the Three Kingdom’s armies and the full force of the Outpost’s wizards, perhaps this threat can be eliminated once and for all.”
Rigo had heard others suggest the same thing. Daim had indicated that in his time some exploration had been done south of the mountains. Even with their magic, the travel was difficult. The jungles were inhospitable, with many poisonous creatures. They had explored a distance almost half the length of Kellmore into the southern lands, and found nothing of interest. If such an expedition were to be considered, it would only be those with magic who should make the attempt. Until more was known, Daim strongly recommended waiting.
“How is Sedfair reacting to the renewed attacks?” Mos’pera asked.
“The timing is unfortunate,” Mitty agreed. “With a transition of power in progress as Queen Rosul prepares to give up the throne, plus the fact the kingdom is recovering from the war between its royalty and the Casters who have long been considered key to the country, further attacks by the Baldari threaten the healing and recovery. If it were not for the support Sedfair has received from the Three Kingdoms, I fear the country might have already collapsed or fallen into civil war.”
