by Bob Blink
“I thought I’d been dreaming.”
Then he laughed softly to himself. “Of course, one never sleeps nor dreams in that place.”
A tear rolled down one cheek. His eyes scanned the room, passing over the room. He did not see Kendil, who at Daim’s insistence, was standing quietly behind him out of sight while she formed her first impressions.
“Where am I?” he asked finally.
“The Outpost infirmary,” Rigo said, causing the young wizard to relax further.
Rigo offered Koess a drink, and at first he raised a hand to push it off, then suddenly decided otherwise.
“I’m thirsty,” he said as if surprised. “One doesn’t get thirsty or hungry in that place.”
He accepted the water skin and drank deeply. As he handed the skin back he noticed the bracelets on his arms and looked at them curiously.
“What place is that?” Rigo asked.
Koess shook his head. “The Void, I called it. I don’t know what or where it really is. Just that it is a prison. There is no way anyone inside can find their way out.”
“Magic doesn’t work?” Daim asked.
Koess fixed Daim with a look for a moment as if still trying to determine who he might be.
“Yes and no,” Koess replied. “I could create Brightfire, or any other magic I knew, but it had no effect on anything. Nothing I did would change anything. I could trigger a Bypass, and the arch would form, but walk into it and nothing happened.”
“How do you explain that you appear not to have aged?” Rigo asked.
Koess raised his hands and turned them over staring at them. “I don’t know. I sensed I wasn’t aging, but I could sense that time was passing. Of course, I had no mirror to verify what I felt.”
He looked at Rigo who was obviously older than he had been when they had traveled together.
“How long has it been?”
Rigo told him.
“It seemed to be far longer. I would have guessed twice that long at least.”
“You said a moment ago that you didn’t get thirsty or hungry in this Void of yours. How did you stay alive?”
“I don’t know. Something provided the energy required, or suspended the need. I cannot say. But it doesn’t last forever. One eventually dies in there.”
“What makes you say that?” Nycoh asked.
Koess looked at her, as if the sound of her voice had tickled a memory.
“Do I know you” he asked.
“Nycoh,” she replied.
For a moment Koess looked shocked, then he seemed to reconsider how long he’d been in the Void. “Of course,” he said. “I can see it now. I wouldn’t have guessed.” Then he responded to her question. “The others who were there,” he said finally. “They had been there far longer than I.”
“There are more people trapped in there?” Daim asked, caught off-guard by Koess’s statement.
“Their memories are there,” Koess said. “Their bodies have long passed and diffused into the crystal that forms the walls. They were wizards like us. Many from a long time ago.”
“We’ll want to know about that,” Daim said, but first, there is someone here who wants to speak with you.”
Koess looked at Daim expectantly, then half turned as he detected movement behind him. Kendil stepped into view. There was no doubt that Koess recognized her. His eyes widened, and a deep sadness was present in his eyes.
“Hi, Koess,” she said uncertainly.
“You look wonderful,” he managed to say.
“Older,” she said.
“Yes, somewhat. It is to be expected. Everyone but me has continued on. How are you?”
They talked for a long time. Daim pulled Rigo and Nycoh out of the room so they could speak privately.
“If she verifies it’s him, I want you to find out everything you can about his experiences in that place,” Daim said to Rigo. “I am starting to believe this is really the person you claim.”
“It’s Koess,” Nycoh said with certainty.
Some time later Kendil stepped out into the hall.
“There is no doubt it’s him,” she said. “There are things we shared that no one else would know. What are you going to do with him?”
“We’ll try and see what he might know that we might be able to use. Once we are certain of him, he’ll be free to rejoin the community.” Daim paused. “He knows about your situation?”
“I told him I was bonded,” Kendil confirmed. “I think he expected as much, but I could tell it struck home.”
After Kendil left, Rigo returned to speak with Koess. Nycoh went back to check on Ash’urn, and Daim left to deal with the many tasks that demanded his attention.
“Why does everyone doubt I’m who I say?” Koess asked when Rigo stepped into the room.
“Your return is a bit of a surprise,” Rigo replied. “It also comes at a particularly unusual time. The Three Kingdoms is under attack, and there are those who wonder if you might be tied into that in some way.”
“The Hoplani? They are still a problem? You never found a solution to them? How would I be aiding the Hoplani?”
The questions came quickly, and Rigo raised his hand to forestall anymore.
“Let’s see about getting you out of here. There is much you will want to know, and there is a lot we still want to know about your entrapment.”
The infirmary had ordered new clothing for Koess, the items he had been wearing being held for investigation, and something that Koess had been in for a very long time. Once he was dressed, Koess indicated the bands on his arms, expecting them to be removed.
“Later,” Rigo said. “After we have talked. Daim, who now is the leader of our group, remains uncertain about you. Those bands block your access to magic. He is more comfortable with you not being able to spell at the moment.”
“That’s why I can’t sense my power,” Koess said. “Where did these come from?”
“That is just part of what I have to tell you,” Rigo said. “I don’t know about you, but I am hungry. Perhaps we can start our discussion over something to eat?”
Koess thought and agreed. “I feel somewhat hungry at that. It has been something I haven’t thought about for a long time.”
As they headed down the hall toward the exit, they briefly passed Ash’urn’s room. Rigo stuck his head in and told Nycoh where he was heading. As they left, Koess asked, “What happened to Ash’urn?”
Rigo briefly explained about the strange rods that had exploded in magic and burned the elder scholar severely when two were brought into proximity.
“Ruins stick,” Koess said nodding. “They would do that.”
“You know what they are?” Rigo asked surprised.
Koess nodded as if surprised that Rigo didn’t. “Of course. They were used as part of the magic that created the Ruins. Several thousand of them were planted around the midlands and then activated. Unfortunately, they were more effective than anticipated and the spell ran out of control, but I’d guess the sticks are still in place. A lot weaker now than they were a long time ago.”
“Who did this?” Rigo asked, uncertain whether to believe what he was hearing.
“The Brryn, of course,” Koess said.
“The Brryn?” Rigo asked, the word difficult to speak. “What are the Brryn?”
The gifted sorcerers who ruled the known world,” Koess said, surprised that Rigo didn’t know. “You know, the race with the light lavender hair that controlled the use of magic long ago.”
Rigo paled at Koess’s description of the Brryn. “We have more to talk about than I thought,” he said.
Koess looked at him oddly, and shrugged. “They are long gone,” he said. “You know that. Their attempt to eliminate the rest of the world’s gifted backfired and wiped them out.”
Chapter 39
“How would you be aware of these things you have been telling Rigo?” Daim demanded when the small group had assembled to delve more deeply into the claims Koess had
made.
Koess shrugged and looked a little confused. He wondered why it mattered so much to those here at the Outpost. Everything he’d told Rigo was ancient history. “I guess I’m still having a little trouble sorting out what I knew before I was trapped and what I learned while in the Void. Some of the things I take as obvious I must have learned there.”
“How could you learn anything in this Void?” Daim asked. “You said you were there alone.”
“Not exactly alone,” Koess objected. “I told you the memories of many others were there in the Void with me. All I had to do was touch them and learn what they had known.”
“Touch them?” Nycoh asked. “The bodies?”
Koess shook his head. “The memories are held in the crystal that formed around where the bodies finally came to rest. The wall of crystal contains the thoughts of the people who became trapped. In many places the walls have linked, so all of the memories are there to be accessed easily.”
“You haven’t changed in all the years you were in there,” Daim argued. “Why would the others you say were trapped die?”
“I guess it takes a long time. Perhaps when the mind aged enough. I’m not sure what happened. Maybe after a time they simply wished to be done with their existence. I could sense that my mind changed while I was there even if the rest of me didn’t. Those who came before me were long embedded in the crystal.”
“How many would you estimate were in there with you?” Rigo asked.
“More than twenty recognizable histories,” Koess replied without hesitation. “Several were sent there on purpose. It made a wonderful place to exile someone. There was no chance they would escape on their own. Even though they were long passed, it made me feel less alone to wander through their memories.”
“And you gathered much of this knowledge of the past simply by examining the crystal walls of your prison?” Daim asked, the doubt clear on his face.
“It’s not quite as simple as that, and it takes a long time, but then, I had little else to do.” Koess looked at Daim as though his explanation was obvious.
Daim looked at Rigo, the doubt showing in his face. Finally he sighed, and turned back toward Koess.
“Tell me about these Brryn,” he said.
“The Brryn were the rulers and controllers of everything,” Koess said. “For thousands of years they oversaw all of the lands between the two oceans. There were no Ruins at that time, and the midlands that filled the region we now know as the Ruins were fertile and heavily populated. There was one kingdom, under the Brryn, with eight territories. The territories were run by marshals, each of whom were chosen by and who were completely loyal to the Brryn.”
Jeen stood and rolled out the map she had found on the table so that Koess could see it. Several sets of hands helped hold it open.
“I cannot read the language, and I have never seen the visions put to a scroll like this, but the general sense looks right to me,” Koess said. “I would guess this is a reasonable representation of what the lands once looked like.”
“How many of these Brryn were there, that they could rule so unchallenged?” Rigo asked.
“Their numbers were not so great,” Koess explained. “Less than a thousand spread across the lands. They ruled by the power of their magic. They controlled magic far more powerful than that known by the free wizards.”
“Why did their numbers stay so small?” Jeen asked.
“They deliberately restricted their number, and intermarried only within their group. That kept their power restricted to a privileged class, and kept their abilities from being spread. They were ruthless, and eliminated any of their own who did not subscribe to the goals and beliefs of the ruling group.”
“Describe them,” Nycoh insisted.
“They were said to be slightly shorter than the average, pale of skin and slender. Their hair could be any color at birth, but as their magic matured, their hair changed to a lavender color, which distinguished them from all others.”
Rigo looked at Daim. The description was in line with Mitty’s description of the woman in her frequent visions.
Koess continued his description uninterrupted. “They supposedly lived extremely long lives. A result of their powerful magic. Oh, and they could converse with one another over large distances, and apparently could probe the minds of their subjects who were brought into their presence. Supposedly, they could also block their thoughts from their fellows when they wished to do so.”
“Telepathic?” Daim asked.
Koess nodded. “No one in the Void knew the truth of it, but it was believed that at some long past time, one or more normal wizards had mated with one of the wild tribes beyond the mountains. Those people, although primitive, were known to be telepathic. The result was said to have been the first of the Brryn.”
“If they were so powerful, what happened?” Rigo asked.
“It was believed by those whose memories I surveyed, that the Brryn were arrogant, and some had a wandering eye. Despite the restriction against mating outside of the clan, some were believed to have done so. When this happened, the object of the lust was killed, but there were those who apparently developed feelings toward the objects of their interest, and allowed them to live. Over more than a thousand years, children were born, who carried with them some of the inherent abilities of the Brryn. Through these mixed births, the power of the free wizards gradually grew. They became more powerful than the Brryn realized, and they existed in numbers many times greater than they suspected.”
“At some point, the free wizards challenged the Brryn. One of their greatest acts of defiance was the destruction of the sacred temple of the Brryn. It was located along the shores near where Roin now exists. There was a lot of history stored in the Void, some of it known and a lot of it speculation. It was tedious, and I grew weary of trying to interpret all of the details. I’m not really that fond of history, and wouldn’t have learned as much as I did if not for the isolation.”
“What of the Ruins?” asked Daim.
“The Ruins were apparently formed over a matter of a few days,” Koess said. “The free wizards were concentrated most densely in the midlands. The Brryn intended to wipe out the areas where they congregated and found their support. They considered it removing a cancer, and would have eventually restored the lands. The rods we spoke of earlier were set into place to augment the spell that was designed to rip the very life from the lands. The Brryn didn’t realize the level of magic controlled by the free wizards, and when the spell was activated, the responses taken by the wizards caused the spell to run unchecked, spreading far wider and faster than any had believed possible. The Brryn were caught up in their own magic, and even their attempts to stop it before everything was consumed cost them dearly. Taking advantage of the momentary weakness and disruption, the free wizards launched their own attacks, and it is believed they were able to kill off all remaining Brryn. Unfortunately, the wars were costly, and the ranks of free wizards were reduced dramatically as well. The knowledge required to undo the devastating effects that caused the Ruins was lost, and the land was stripped bare except for small regions along either coast. No one knows why the land there was spared. For a time it was feared that everything would be consumed.”
The group was silent as they considered what Koess had told them. The description of the Brryn and the enhanced magic was consistent with what they were observing. The telepathic abilities and their ability to control were consistent with the already established belief that the Baldari were being controlled in such a manner.
Koess looked around at the silent group. “It doesn’t matter. This is all ancient history, dating far before the time in which Daim once lived. Even in his time the Brryn had been forgotten.”
“What if some of the Brryn survived?” Rigo asked Koess to gauge his reaction.
Koess shook his head. “Not possible. Even the oldest memories I tapped while in the Void were from a time when the Brryn had been forgotten by all but a fe
w scholars who studied the past history of magic. Every effort was made to eliminate all signs of that time and wipe the deeds of the feared Brryn from the history of the world.”
Koess looked around the room at the thoughtful expressions on the faces of his listeners. Rigo was about to explain the current state of the attacks on the Three Kingdoms when someone knocked at the door. Jeen opened to see who was there, surprised that anyone would interrupt the group. Outside, a white faced Mitty waited.
“I must speak with Rigo,” she insisted.
Jeen ushered her inside and closed the door. Koess examined her with interest, recognizing her as one of those who he had seen in the cave when he was freed.
Mitty looked around at the group, and then pointedly at Koess.
“You can speak,” Daim said. He was interested both in what Mitty might have to say, and how Koess would react to her news. The reaction might be informative.
“She has been more active again,” Mitty said. All but Koess knew she was referring to the woman in the odd chamber. “I have been watching her for several days since detecting her activities, hoping to see something that would be useful.”
“Is she aware of your presence?” Rigo asked worriedly. He did not like that the woman could sense Mitty’s presence. He wished he knew if she could see Mitty in return, or if she had any idea where Mitty was. He took encouragement in the fact Mitty didn’t know where the woman was, and hoped the woman shared a similar restriction.
“Without a doubt,” Mitty acknowledged. “Twice she had looked right at me with clear animosity in her eyes before she was able to push me away.”
“But you have learned something?” Jeen asked.
“Not from her,” Mitty said. “But just now I had another vision. Pagner will be attacked and very soon. It is as Mos’pera warned. I saw both Burke and Shym participating in the attack. They were leading a team of the captured wizards and Casters, and thousands of Baldari. I fear the city will be destroyed.”
“Do you know when?” Nycoh asked.
