The Baldari (Book 3)

by Bob Blink

  Jeen stepped up to the door of the large three-story house where Rigo and Mitty lived. It was a far larger home than the two required, but represented a gift former Queen Rosul had presented to them upon their Binding, in part because she felt Sedfair owed them, and in part because she had a special place for the couple in her heart. Located in an upscale section of Nals where most of the nobles lived, Jeen had chosen to walk from the site where the new government buildings were being started to the house. She wanted to see how Sedfair was fairing under the new Queen, and she’d wanted time to think. Rigo and Mitty knew she was coming. They had been informed about the attack on Roin through channels because Jeen had been delayed and hadn’t made the trip the day before as she’d initially hoped.

  Mitty answered the door herself. Neither Rigo nor Mitty wanted servants, and they refused to conform to the nobility image that many wished to push upon them.

  “Jeen!” Mitty said happily at seeing her old friend. Even with magic, the distances between Sedfair and the Three Kingdoms was great, and they didn’t get together as often as either might have liked.

  Jeen examined her friend as she stepped inside. Mitty looked happy and vibrant. Being pregnant agreed with her, and she had somehow avoided the usual discomforts that so many were forced to endure the first few months. Rigo had heard the women talking, and walked into the room to greet Jeen.

  “Any word?” he asked solemnly.

  “Nothing on the missing wizards,” Jeen replied. “There have been no more attacks, and we have no way to judge how long it might take to turn them to the enemy’s side.”

  “I cannot believe the entire city has been leveled,” Mitty said.

  “Not much could be saved,” Jeen agreed. “There are a few areas well away from the harbor that survived, but most of the city will have to be entirely rebuilt.”

  “I think there will be more attacks soon,” Mitty said.

  “Have you had additional visions?” Jeen asked.

  “Not of attacks, but the woman I see is more active of late. I believe she might be coming closer to freeing herself from the pod which holds her. I can watch her almost at will now, until she becomes aware of me. Then, somehow, she is able to block my view. I believe it interrupts whatever she is doing to do so, but she prevents me from seeing her. Not that I know what she is doing.”

  “You are certain that she is aware of you?”

  “Without a doubt. I sense she doesn’t like me very much.”

  “You need to be careful. If she ever learns who you are, she might direct her forces against you.”

  “Rigo keeps warning me of the same thing. He wants to relocate. He says too many know of this place and we could become targets. But where would we go? It is beginning to seem they can appear anywhere.”

  “Daim wishes us to come to the Outpost?” Rigo asked, changing the subject. He knew that Mitty wasn’t going to agree to relocate just yet. To be honest, he wasn’t sure where they could go, remain accessible, and still be safe. His emergency plan if anything went wrong would be to take them to the emergency caves, and from there to the island where Queen Rosul had created a facility for her people some time ago. Most people still didn’t know about the existence of the facility.

  “The day after tomorrow,” Jeen agreed. “He hopes to get everyone together and see if we can come up with any ideas. To be honest, it’s starting to look somewhat grim.”

  “Something else is on your mind,” Mitty said. “You didn’t come all the way here simply to tell Rigo he was requested to come.”

  Jeen smiled. Mitty knew her very well. “There is something else that has come up. I would like to show Rigo something.”

  Rigo looked at his old friend questioningly. “Come into the library. We can sit and talk there.”

  “Now, what do you want to show me?” he asked when they were settled. “You sound a little mysterious.”

  “Daria came to see me the other day,” Jeen began. “She had several large wagons of artifacts that were discovered by the Wanderers in a cave near an old village in eastern Lopal. They had been intended for us some time ago, but were intercepted by bandits. The bandits killed a number of the Wanderers, including Daria’s stepfather. As you might expect, she and Kaler went after the culprits. I gather those responsible for the killings no longer had a need for the items when Daria was finished with them, and she brought them to the Outpost.” Jeen didn’t have to explain what must have happened to those involved. They both knew Daria very well, and how she dealt with such problems.

  “Great Risos!” Rigo swore. “Is she okay?” Rigo knew how much the Wanderers meant to her, and how close she had been to her stepfather.

  “She hides her feelings well, but I think she will be now that those responsible have paid for their actions.”

  “Where is she now?” Rigo asked. “Mitty and I need to visit her.”

  “I believe she is back at the orphanage,” Jeen said. “She said she had some knife sharpening to do, and then something about gelding. They have started raising horses, you know.”

  Rigo knew all about Daria and her knives. Her stepfather, Jurde, had been an expert knife maker, and had taught Daria how to care for and sharpen blades of all kinds. She knew how to put a keen, lasting edge on a weapon. But Rigo had a different interpretation of what her gelding comment might mean. Rigo suspected that Daria wasn’t yet finished with her payback mission. There must be something she hadn’t told Jeen. Probably because she didn’t want to risk interference. He was about to ask Jeen for more detail about the attack on the Wanderers when Jeen pulled a sheet of vellum out of her travel purse and unfolded it. She pushed it across the table toward him.

  Curious, Rigo forgot about his question and reached for the paper. He could see there was a drawing, but it was upside down and he couldn’t tell of whom it might be. When he had the paper in his hand, he rotated it and let his eyes drop to the page. The drawing was rough, as if the artist didn’t know what he wanted his subject to look like. Clearly it had been done without the person before the artist. It took him a moment before the shape of the face began to register. Then, suddenly it snapped into place. He was slow because he would not have considered the person who stared out at him from the paper.

  “Koess!” he said suddenly, the word almost exploding from him. He looked up sharply at Jeen.

  “That’s what others have said as well,” Jeen said calmly.

  “Where did you get this?” Rigo asked. “What is this about?” He hadn’t thought about the young wizard that had been lost during his ill-fated trip into the Ruins so many years ago in a very long time. Koess had stepped into a Bypass and never exited the far side with the rest of them. It was one of their first experiences with the dangers of the Ruins.

  “I had it drawn,” Jeen said. “Daria described what she had seen, and the artist made the sketch. This was the best he could do from the description Daria gave me. She said it was a good representation. After she left, I showed it to a number of people at the Outpost. Those who knew him say there is no question it’s him.”

  “I don’t understand,” Rigo said. “As far as I know, Daria never met Koess.”

  “She didn’t,” Jeen agreed. “She was not involved with many of the wizards at the Outpost in those days, and had never visited during the time Koess was there. It is also clear, he was not one of those who visited her orphanage.”

  “So where did Daria claim to see him?” Rigo asked.

  “I know you are aware that Daria has learned how to make a Bypass or perhaps more appropriately a Doorway since she uses the symbolic magic to do so.”

  Rigo nodded. “She is quite remarkable. The skill must have come in handy when she was chasing down her latest adversaries.”

  Jeen smiled. “Actually it was during that adventure she claims to have seen the figure in the drawing. After locating the stolen items, she attempted to make a Doorway to move the artifacts to the Orphanage, when she claims the attempt was somehow corrupted. The fri
nges of the arch that appeared were not the usual yellow color, but somewhat purple. In addition, the area under the arch didn’t look through to what was just beyond as is normal, but was somewhat cloudy, and this individual could be seen moving through the haze. She was quite clear on that. Wisely, she elected to forgo stepping into the Doorway, and closed it. She left the cave where the items had been stored and tried again, wondering if something in the cave was responsible. This time she succeeded in creating a proper Doorway, and moved the items home. She thought nothing more about this until we were talking, and she asked me if I’d ever seen such a thing.”

  Rigo was stunned. “She claims to have seen Koess? He looked alive? How could that be? He disappeared into the Bypass more than a dozen years ago.”

  Rigo tried to recall if the portal that had been created at the chasm had been distorted or oddly colored in anyway. He simply didn’t know. It was too long ago and at the time he had been entirely focused on the vast chasm that stretched out before them, and not at all on the Bypass.

  “He can’t be alive,” Rigo said, but wasn’t sure he believed it. “What do Daim or Ash’urn think?”

  “Daim doesn’t know Koess, of course. He thinks it might be possible he could be trapped in some halfway place created by the Bypass. Apparently there were thoughts along these lines in his day. Others had rumored lost, and theories were put forth that the Bypass might be responsible. Ash’urn finds it interesting, but has nothing upon which to make a judgment.”

  “We have to go to Daria. I want to visit this cave again and see if we can recreate what she saw. Perhaps there is a chance to bring him back.”

  Rigo had always felt responsible for the loss of the young wizard, feeling they pressured him into stepping into the Bypass that crossed the chasm against his will. If there was any chance he might be alive somehow, they had to try.

  “It’s something else we can talk about when you visit in a couple of days. We will go see Daria after the meeting, and have her show us the spot. I almost went with her the other day, but had an odd feeling at the time you might want to be involved.”

  Just then Mitty made a choking sound. Jeen and Rigo looked her way. She sat with her eyes wide open, but unseeing. “No,” she hissed almost too softly to be heard. Rigo hesitated knowing it was a vision. They came sometimes in the daylight hours now. He hated to interrupt her, but worried when she was like this.

  He was about to reach out and touch her shoulder when her eyes refocused and looked at them. “Burke’s gone,” she said hoarsely.

  “Gone? What do you mean?” Rigo asked.

  “I saw him screaming, then he and his entire team simply collapsed. The Baldari came pouring out of the trees and gathered them all up, stepping into a Doorway, taking them somewhere.”

  “We have to go after them,” Rigo said as he stood up. He’d never forget that Burke had come for him when he’d been held prisoner.

  “No,” Mitty said emphatically. “They aren’t there anymore and you won’t be able to tell where they’ve been taken. Also, any who go to the site of the attack will either die or be captured themselves. There is no doubt about that. I know it more certainly than anything I’ve seen before. You cannot go.”

  “But it’s Burke,” Rigo said. He looked at a worried Mitty. Rigo knew he owed it to his pregnant consort to be careful. He also needed to stay close given a very real threat in his mind from the woman Mitty alone was able to spy upon. On the other hand, he couldn’t simply standby and let his friend be captured. “We’ve got to help him,” he said finally.

  “There’s nothing you can do,” Mitty said. “Nothing.”

  Jeen stood up. “We need to get to the Outpost immediately. Daim needs to know what has happened.”

  Chapter 32

  The aftermath of the attack on Roin greatly taxed Daim’s administrative skills. He was more than willing to admit he wasn’t up to the task of planning for what might lie ahead. He wished more than once that his old friend Naeem was here to take charge, or at least point him in the proper direction. Sadly, Naeem had died long ago fighting the Rift. Daim had to rely on his common sense and the guidance of a few of those he trusted most.

  With members of their community now in the hands of the enemy, and having seen that such prisoners were being used to provide access for the Baldari warriors, Daim had to assume the Outpost and other facilities visited by his fellow wizards would be likely targets of attack. He still hoped that his protections which limited those who could create a Bypass into the Outpost to a small number would prevent the captured wizards from opening a path to the interior of the place to the enemy. The restriction made matters more complicated for those who frequented the Outpost, but it had worked during the battle with Carif, and they would make it work now. As it turned out, the captured wizards weren’t capable of overcoming the protective measures that Daim had put in place, but those who controlled them would find the restrictions ineffective if they ever got free.

  There was much within the Outpost that Daim didn’t want lost should the facility fall. To protect some of their most important assets, he had many items moved to his old hideaway in the Ruins, and then closed down the always-open Bypass that had been used for access for so many years. Almost no one in the wizard community knew where the hideaway actually was, and only he and Rigo could make a Bypass to it. He believed that should make it reasonably secure. To further protect certain items, he selected one of the junior wizards, and tasked the lad with choosing a place only he knew of, and moving a roomful of items that Daim showed him to that place. He was to tell no one, including Daim, and stay there until this was over. He asked Ash’urn to oversee the relocation of all of the ancient texts that the Repository would now allow them to read to a secure location. Ash’urn and Shara, who worried about Ash’urn tackling anything too strenuous these days, enlisted the aid of some of the younger novices to move the heavy volumes to a place far away.

  Squads of combat capable wizards were formed and on duty at all hours. They had a far greater number of capable wizards than had been captured, but the shields exhibited by the captured Caster Shym provided a level of uncertainty. While she was the only captured Caster who had demonstrated such protection, if some of the wizards appeared similarly protected, it would be difficult to impossible to defend against them. Just to be certain, escape locations had been agreed upon, with the standard escape approach calling for passing through the blocked cavern underground. The facility had yet to be tested, but it would be more effective than hoping the enemy couldn’t track their Bypass portals.

  Wizards had already been dispatched to the leaders of all four kingdoms, alerting them to the most recent attack, the capture of the wizards, and the possible implications of the enemy having such prisoners. He knew the Army would be put on alert, but wondered how useful that would be. They could handle Baldari, but an attack by the wizards who had been captured would be far too one-sided, and would result in massive losses for the Guard. The attack on Roin had less significance for Sedfair, but alerted them that the enemy was still pressing its attacks. Word was being spread through the entire wizard network to warn all that they were at risk, and clearly a target for capture. As yet Burke’s team in the southern jungles hadn’t been alerted to the attack. They would learn of it later that day when they returned from their explorations as usual. Daim considered them always at risk, and he knew that Burke felt the same and was appropriately vigilant. The risk they were taking was necessary, and additional warnings weren’t likely to change their situation any.

  “What of the captured Baldari?” he asked the assembled wizards, some of whom had gone to Roin during the attack.

  “They are all dead,” he was told. “Just like those in Sedfair. They seldom last more than a glass after being captured.”

  Daim cursed. He wasn’t certain what he hoped to learn or exactly how to go about it, but had some vague notion the Reading technique used in Sedfair might have shed some information on where the i
nvaders originated, and maybe who and how many were driving them. He believed that a part of the mental control pressed upon the small fighters was a compulsion to die if captured. That someone would have so little concern about those they manipulated was disconcerting.

  Daim had just sent off the last of his core team on miscellaneous assignments when Lyes, whom Daim considered his equivalent in the Guild, suddenly appeared at the entrance to the hall which Daim was using as a war room. Young Fen was with him, carrying one of the ornate Casting staffs.

  “My messenger reached Sedfair?” Daim asked, assuming their presence was the result of Lyes learning of the attack.

  “He did,” Lyes nodded, “but that isn’t the reason for our visit.”

  Daim waited expectantly, knowing that Lyes must have something important on his mind. He would have known that Daim would be extremely busy making preparations. Daim couldn’t see what he might have to offer, as Sedfair was already stretched trying to protect its own citizens.

  “We’ve come from the Repository,” Lyes explained. “While the materials there remain off-limits to us, we have been able to use the readers to unlock an important secret.” Lyes smiled and continued. “We can now create the green fighting magic that Carif used so effectively against us.”

  Daim, of course, realized the importance of their discovery. “Is this a spell anyone can use?” he asked hopefully.

  “We have only limited experience with it, but it seems anyone who can master normal triggering phrases should not have a problem. We will have to make up modified staffs or something with the appropriate glyphs, but once that is done we should be able to equip many with this new weapon.”

  “What about inherent magic?” Daim asked anxiously. “Is there an equivalent to the Caster’s spell?” Usually there was a parallel and he and Nycoh had talked about the desire for the more easily used spells of the wizards.

  Lyes understood what Daim was asking. The Caster spell, which he and Fen had discovered and which Carif and her followers had used, required something with the proper symbols and equally important, a Caster capable of learning and speaking the trigger. The wizards, for the most part, had not taken to learning the symbolic magic, which was more challenging than their own inherent magic. Sedfair might have an army of Casters who could master the spell, but the Three Kingdoms would have far fewer who would be able to trigger the powerful magic.