by Bob Blink
She was disappointed in the Repository. An extremely fast reader, she had gone through the complete training scroll. The information there was useful, and the facility would allow them to finally understand some of the materials that had sat unread in the library at the Outpost for as long as she had been there. Unfortunately, nothing told her how the protective barriers that held the scrolls so tantalizingly close yet unreachable were to be overcome. She knew she couldn’t do it, and that probably meant none of them could. A fundamental key was missing, and without that, they were as helpless there as any Normal. When she returned, she’d begin the process of randomly working through the unorganized texts they had. Maybe there would be something of use, but it was an arduous approach when the situation screamed for immediate solutions.
She sighed and let her eyes fall on a nest of birds located in the branches of a tree at the water’s edge. When she looked away, her eyes fell upon her staff. Black as night, the treated wood was resistant to anything but the most intense magic. The symbols that were formed into the surface were small and almost impossible to see. That didn’t matter. What mattered was that the symbols were there, and precisely laid out, winding around the shaft and interlocking in precise patterns. The Casters and their staffs were so far from understanding what symbolic magic was about that she sometimes wondered that their spells functioned at all. Of course, that might be said of the wizards at the Outpost that used inherent magic. Their understanding of magic was restricted as well. Both disciplines were a part of a much greater whole, and to be a true mage, one must master both. She knew this to be true, but not how she knew it. She also was fully aware she fell far short of having mastered either discipline.
This was the sixth staff she had made in as many months. Almost as soon as she had become used to what she had crafted, alternate and more effective variations came to mind. She was growing somehow, and with the growth came an awareness that had eluded her previously. Clearly she was an anomaly. She was able to do things she shouldn’t by rights be able to do. Many of the feats she had demonstrated were spur of the moment, called as needed and without understanding. The lack of understanding is what bothered her the most. Somehow she understood that she should be able to do even more, if she could simply cross the elusive threshold that felt just out of view.
Her fighting spells were stronger than those of any other wizards. Stronger than they realized. Her Brightfire now exceeded what even Jeen could perform when Linked. She hadn’t demonstrated this, but knew it to be true. Even given the power she commanded, it wasn’t sufficient. The shields she had witnessed would turn aside her best efforts. Her own shields were pitiful in comparison. She could turn aside the magic she had seen, but not block it. She was convinced there was magic out there that would thwart her best attempts and bring her down easily. Unfortunately, she could see no way to learn what was required. Abilities came to her or didn’t, but she had no systematic approach to growing.
Even the demonstrated advancement of her abilities was starting to cause resentment among the other wizards. They didn’t understand why she was able to do what they could not. Part was the simple fact they hadn’t invested the effort required to build the dual foundation in inherent and symbolic magic. But she knew it was more than that. Even Lyes felt she was holding back, wanting to be the strongest. He was a mage just as she was. He wanted her to explain why she could do things that he could not. It was one reason for the friction between them.
At first interacting with Lyes had been exhilarating. Nycoh had never experienced the kind of feelings she had felt when she was with Lyes. She’d had close friends, who were important to her more than anything else, but it had never been like that. They had been thrown together often as the fight against Carif had progressed. Their unique dual talents made them obvious collaborators. Lyes had been the first to show Nycoh the secrets of symbolic magic. When he had been activated, she had helped with his inherent magic, but that had been a more automatic and natural development. As they both grew in the other’s discipline, they shared skills and challenged one another’s strength. Early on it became apparent that Nycoh could duplicate anything that Lyes could do. At first, Lyes was able to mirror her abilities, if not as strongly.
What had started as a friendship changed and became something more intimate and eventually physical. Lyes had been her first, and thus far, only experience along those lines. Nycoh had been overjoyed at the relationship. It had opened her eyes to a part of life she hadn’t really thought about. She had seen how Rigo had changed with his discovery of Mitty, coming out of the shell he’d built around himself for so many years. She had hoped that she and Lyes might be the same. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, she had begun to change. She developed new skills, skills that Lyes couldn’t duplicate and which she couldn’t pass or explain to him. She didn’t know how she managed some of what she was now able to do. It was like inherent magic that was easily transferred, and showing him the symbols involved, which for some reason didn’t require an activation phrase, didn’t help. He became frustrated. Sometimes they argued. After one particularly intense disagreement, they had split.
Now he was with someone else. She wasn’t certain how she felt about that. Part of her was jealous, and part was happy she didn’t have to defend herself to him. It would have been easier if circumstances didn’t keep throwing them together. At the Repository she had sensed that Lyes might be interested in reconciliation. With images plaguing her thoughts of Lyes and Nori together, she wasn’t sure what she wanted.
It would be easier to think about it, if it weren’t for the other matter. That was as much to blame for her own developing aloofness as was the troublesome relationship with Lyes. She was surprised that her friends hadn’t noted the change and asked about it. Perhaps they had noticed, but attributed the problem to her breakup with Lyes. She knew that Jeen was aware of the rift.
Nycoh reached into a slot in her shirt to a secret pocket inside. She had borrowed that design from Daria, who had perfected the means of concealment. Her fingers found the small, carved bone container and carefully she withdrew it. She opened it, setting the lid aside and stared at the two long hairs coiled up inside. Hers. Both pulled out some weeks before.
Gently she found the end of one of the hairs and lifted it out of the container, watching as it unwound and bounced slightly in the light mountain breeze. In the bright morning light she could see that it was not black as it should be. The faint purple color was readily apparent. Thus far she had found only the two hairs, but she was certain there would be more. The implications were obvious, and frightening.
If it hadn’t been for Mitty and her visions, the discovery would have been intriguing. Nycoh would have examined the oddly colored hairs, and actively sought anything that suggested someone else might have had such color in the past. But now she knew there was someone else with this exact color hair. Someone who was almost certainly the greatest enemy the Three Kingdoms had encountered in recorded memory. Was she like the woman in Mitty’s visions? Was she related to her in some way? Nycoh wondered if the powers she was starting to exhibit were tied in any way to the sudden appearance of the hairs. She had been unable to recall when the new abilities had first shown themselves and how that might relate to the appearance of the purple hairs.
She was also greatly concerned what the others might think. Would they start to fear her, or start to distrust her? More importantly, would they be right to do so? Nycoh wondered what she would do if her hair were to suddenly start to change and the purple color became apparent to all. While she didn’t believe that one’s heritage determined one’s alliances, she felt a deep uncertainty inside herself. More than anything she feared that the strange woman might be able to influence her in some way should she learn of her existence.
It was important to find some answers. That was what had brought her to this lonely spot so far from home. She wanted to approach Ash’urn. He’d been father, brother, friend, fellow researcher, and m
ore, over the years. He would approach the problem with curiosity and interest, and she hoped with secrecy. If there was anyone she could trust, she believed it would be him. She had decided that she would reveal the secret to him upon her return. At least, she thought she had.
There was more she could discuss with Ash’urn. They both knew that the Three Kingdoms, and Sedfair for that matter, were in grave danger. Nycoh was convinced that Queen Mos’pera knew this, and had seen visions that she had felt unwise to reveal. Twice Nycoh had raised questions to the Queen, and had seen the fear deep in her eyes. She is afraid that many of her friends will die before this is over, and she needs to find a way to help. The best way would be to spread knowledge of her newly found abilities. Maybe Ash’urn could help with that. Finally, there is something about the power crystals. There is more to the crystals than the Casters realize. The Baldari, which really means the purple haired woman that Mitty claims is behind their attacks, seeks them. Yet from the descriptions of the chamber that Nycoh and others have had Mitty recount in great detail, suggest a staff much like her own is present next to each of the individuals in the chamber. No one else has commented on that, but like her own, there is no power crystal involved. That makes her wonder what is important about the power crystals.
She realized she was still holding the hair, and carefully wound it into a loop that she placed back into the small bone container. Uncertainly, she stood up. Her decision to speak with Ash’urn felt like the right one, but she sensed the nervousness in the pit of her stomach. He was supposed to be at the Outpost today. She had best go now, before she had a chance to reconsider.
Chapter 30
Fen stepped out of the small training booth where he had sat focused on the screen in front of him for the past several glass. He had worked his way completely through the training scroll twice, making certain he fully understood everything that was there. He was disappointed. He had hoped there would be more, not the least of which would have been instructions that showed how to access the thousands of scrolls that filled the room nearby. Either whoever had created the training manual considered that obvious, something that Fen didn’t believe, or the protection was something that had come later, and was something they were going to have to find a different means to overcome.
He stretched his back as he stood fully erect for the first time in several glass, and looked around the facility. It was very quiet and he knew he was alone. Both Ash’urn and Lyes had come with him this morning, but both had left. Ash’urn had told him he would have to depart early. A meeting with the head wizard about something. Fen knew that Daim was supposed to be someone special, but he had never grown close to the wizard like he had many of the others he’d met at the Outpost. Knowing that the man had lived thousands of years ago made Fen slightly uncomfortable.
Fen was surprised that Lyes had left without saying anything. He and the Co-Director of the Guild had started out being friends when Fen was new to Nals and the University. So much had changed since then. It hadn’t slipped past Fen that Lyes was moody of late. It was more than the pressures of helping direct the Guild after Carif had been captured. While Fen was still too young to fully understand the intricacies of such relationships, he was astute enough to know the change in his friend was related to Nycoh in some way. There was a problem of some kind, and as a result, Lyes was irritable.
Before he also left, Fen decided to walk into the main storage area of the repository. The rows of shelves so tantalizingly filled with scrolls and texts that he would like to examine stretched to the wall in the distance. His legs were still stiff and he walked slowly, pressing his palm against the spot revealed in the lessons. The nearest shelf revealed the contents that were stored just beyond the barrier, conveniently in his language. That miraculous translation ability extended to the markings here in the main room.
Medical techniques, read the inscription. He couldn’t help wonder what capabilities might be waiting just out of reach. He pressed his palm against other cases as he strolled along. Astronomy, Life Extension, and finally Weaponry. The last he knew would be of use in their present situation. Unfortunately, there was the small matter of the protective barrier. He even found a section that might be applicable to resolving that little problem, but like the other scrolls, everything in that section was behind the very barrier he needed to get past.
He had learned that the working readers in the main room would translate any and all of the old scrolls that had been recovered over the years. That included items found in Ald-del, the books that Ash’urn had accumulated in a lifetime of wandering the Three Kingdoms, as well as everything in the combined storage libraries of the Guild and Outpost. That represented quite a number of books, but they were not going to necessarily be on topics that they found of particular interest. They would be helpful, but the learning would be nowhere as systematic as having access to the materials here would have been.
Perhaps the most useful discovery the training scroll had revealed to him was the special feature built into many of the ancient texts, especially those meant for training. Those meant to teach symbolic magic and the spells supposedly could be made to voice the triggering phrase corresponding to the written symbols. Fen wasn’t sure how that worked, but the enunciation was supposed to be mental, something only the reader would hear. If true, he would be able to hear, and then hopefully repeat the phrases that went with the symbolic spells in these books. Of course, that meant if the books worked that way, and if he had the ability to “hear” such mental renders. Perhaps the ancients had mental abilities he lacked.
He hoped the texts they had still worked that way. The clues to the elusive green magic used by Carif and her followers might finally be revealed. The symbols existed on the former Saltique’s staff, so they knew the spell, but they hadn’t managed to decipher the phrase. If they could assemble the pieces from various sources, they might finally learn how to trigger the magic.
Fen was still considering the implications when he heard footsteps coming his way. He turned sharply wondering who it might be, and spotted Lyes, his arms holding a number of books.
“I assume you discovered that the readers should be able to translate any of the old texts we have,” Lyes said as he approached.
“I finished the entire scroll,” Fen explained.
“You got farther than I did,” Lyes said. “When I got to that part I decided I wanted to see if it really works. I went back for a few samples.” He showed Fen the books he carried.
Fen accepted a couple of the books and they made their way to one of the operational readers in the main room. Fen knew how to operate the readers after his completion of the training session, and he confidently slipped the first of the texts into the compartment. It took only moments to establish the translation worked as promised. This book was a manual for healing by Casters. That might be very useful.
As they placed the other books into the reader to see what they had, Fen explained to Lyes about the supposed capability for the ancient texts to teach triggering phrases. Lyes was immediately doubtful but they selected one of the texts that Lyes had brought and Fen followed the instructions he had memorized and tried it. He smiled broadly at Lyes. “It works. Try it.” Then he explained how it was to be done.
“Do you think Carif’s book will work this way?” Lyes asked excitedly. “Come. We’ve got to get back to the Guild.”
The ancient book worked as expected, and soon they had most of the spell sorted out. They had been almost right on their translations. The problem remained the missing pages from the book. They knew the symbols, and had found them in other texts mixed into other spells. Since they hadn’t known the triggering phrases there either. It hadn’t helped. It took several glass and was getting quite late when the two Casters finally had assembled all of the pieces that they believed were required.
“Do you really think it will work?” Fen asked hopefully.
“I can get Carif’s staff,” Lyes said. “Let’s give it a try.�
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A quarter of a glass later they were outside, the former Saltique’s staff in hand. Being the head of the Guild made such matters easier, and Lyes had been able to walk into the special facility where they had stored such items without having to explain himself. Lyes focused jointly on a large bolder across the grounds where the Guild Headquarters had once stood, as well as on the string of glyphs that defined the spell. Then he spoke the phrase he and Fen had assembled for half a dozen spells.
A beam of pure bright green energy shot across the hillside and blasted the stone bolder into dust. Lyes couldn’t be certain, but he felt his beam was even more intense than that he had seen members of the Eight create.
“It works,” cheered Fen, somewhat surprised at their success.
“It does indeed,” Lyes said happily. He wasn’t certain he was so pleased because the important secret had finally been revealed, or that he knew he had done something that even Nycoh hadn’t managed. At least as far as he knew.
“Come on,” Lyes urged. “We have to inform Ardra, and then we need to go to the Outpost.”
“Tonight?” Fen asked. “Can’t it wait until morning?”
“It’s not as late there as here, and no, this must be demonstrated immediately. Who knows when there might be another attack.”
Chapter 31
