The Baldari (Book 3)

by Bob Blink

  When they had chosen the boat for the task at hand, Jeen had been entirely comfortable with the idea of spending a couple of days offshore, out on the sparkling clear waters of the bay just north of the devastated village of Roin. She had spent a number of days on a boat this size, traveling down the river with Rigo and her friends as they escaped capture on their journey toward the Ruins some years ago. She had had no sense of discomfort then, and was surprised to find herself so uneasy now. She realized that when the boat was moving forward, cutting into the waves and advancing against the ocean, she had felt none of the sickness that threatened to cost her breakfast. It was being stationary, allowing the random motions of the sea to move the deck unpredictably that was affecting her. The intense heat of the bright sunlight didn’t bother her very much, but the reflecting sparkle of the light off the waves was a little disconcerting and she was certain contributed to her uneasiness.

  “Can you see them?” she asked, hoping to take her mind off her discomfort by focusing her attention elsewhere. She peered into the clear greenish water attempting to see something in the depths some thirty paces beneath the hull. Jeen couldn’t help wondering why the water appeared green. It was clear, and when a glass was filled it appeared entirely normal, yet when she looked into the depths of the water which was brightly lit by the intense sunlight, it was distinctly greenish in color. Somewhere down there two more of their team were searching for any sign that the Citadel that Koess had told them once existed here actually had existed.

  It was extremely unfortunate that the location where it had supposedly existed had sunk beneath the ocean. Of all things, water was one material that was difficult even for magic to deal with. In small quantities, various actions were effective. She could freeze a reasonable block of it easily enough, although how that would help here she couldn’t see. There was no way she would be able to freeze the ocean, and any blocks of ice she created would simply bob to the surface, float away and melt. Any water that she moved away would simply be replaced by the limitless quantity of water all around. The same held true of any water she pushed aside. The ocean would simply float in behind the water she acted upon, with a net gain of zero. There was no constraining barrier she could create that would hold the water back, allowing them easy access to the land below.

  As a result, her team had to search below the surface the same as everyone else. The two wizards swimming far below had grown up along the ocean, although considerably to the north of where they were at the moment, and were entirely comfortable exploring beneath the choppy surface. Jeen thought she could detect the movement of one of her people, when another change in the wave pattern caused her to stumble and grab for the railing. By the time she was stable again, the movement below had vanished.

  “It looks like they are coming back up,” Anngli said, standing near the edge of the boat, her knees flexing unconsciously to compensate for the random tipping motions of the deck.

  Sure enough, a few moments later one head broke the surface, and then another. The two men said something unheard by those on the boat to one another, and instead of taking another breath and heading back down, they starting swimming toward the boat.

  Jeen hoped this meant something positive. After three days of floating around on the waters out here, she was ready to call it a wasted effort. The local fishermen had lived here for thousands of years since the rumored Citadel would have sunk. If there were something here to be found, they would have done so. Jeen pushed away from the railing and walked back into the shade of the deck structure finding a place to sit where she could lean her back against something solid. She would have liked to close her eyes, but recent experience had taught her that it wasn’t a good idea and only magnified the discomfort she felt.

  She heard the splash as the two divers climbed out of the water onto the boat, and then the padded sound of footsteps approaching. She turned her head and looked at the muscular Wade walking dripping water as he approached. She noticed he carried something in his hand. When he was close, he reached out his hand and passed the metallic object he held to her.

  “Most everything down there is heavily covered in marine growth,” he said. “It’s very difficult to recognize anything. This was uncovered by a recent shifting of an old structure down there.”

  Jeen turned the object over in her hands. It was two hands long, an octagonal cylinder with precisely made sides. It was threaded on either end.

  “It was screwed onto the large beam we found,” Wade confirmed when he saw where she was looking. “It unscrewed easily enough.”

  At first glance there wasn’t much remarkable about the object, except it had been under the sea for a long time and was as shinny and bright as the day it had been made. There was no sign of wear or corrosion, and Jeen could sense the slight pulse of residual magic that remained from the way it had been crafted. None but a wizard could have made anything so precise. Perhaps sometime long ago there had been another means of doing so, but that would have meant the object should show signs of the passage of time.

  “What else did you find?” she asked softly.

  “Just the beam of some material I don’t recognize. It was heavily overgrown but it penetrates deep into the floor of the seabed. My guess is that there is something more to find here, but it will take a lot of digging.”

  Jeen nodded to Wade. “Take the rest of the morning. See what else you can find down there,” she instructed.

  As Wade nodded and walked away, still dripping water, a few drops of which splashed coldly on her leg as he turned away, Jeen glanced at the object again. This would probably be enough. She was certain Daim would consider it proof that Koess was right about the ancient Citadel. She raised her eyes and scanned the shoreline. They were farther out than she would have guessed. Either the maps had been subtly wrong, or the land had shifted more than expected, and even part of the shore where Roin was situated had disappeared beneath the seas. Looking away from the ravaged village, she could see the shore was actually closer where the curve of the half-moon beach brought the land nearer to where they floated on the water.

  There, she decided, marking a spot on the beach hidden by a cluster of small mounds. They could set up there and be out of sight of the village. That didn’t guarantee complete isolation, but the few survivors of the attacks on Roin had their attention focused on the village and wouldn’t be overly interested in beach combing for a while. With Lyes or Nycoh to set up a small illusion, their efforts would likely go unnoticed.

  Since they couldn’t easily go through the ocean, they would have to tunnel under the seabed. It would be an impressive effort, and the kind of exploration that should be in the hands of scholars who would proceed cautiously and take years to study what they found. Somehow she suspected that Daim would insist on a more expedient approach, and push those he assigned to move quickly. It was anyone’s guess if there would be anything of value to be found, but Daim was right they couldn’t afford to overlook anything that would reveal the secrets of the Brryn. Their most powerful Citadel might have once stood here, and it had been destroyed. That implied a weakness, and right now the Three Kingdoms needed to understand any weakness the Brryn might have had.

  Needing to catch the breeze, Jeen pushed herself up, carefully placing the piece of ancient metal into the box lashed to the deck. Then she hurried to the railing where the breeze was strongest, and willed herself to be strong. They would return to shore this afternoon, and she could return to the Outpost at last. She wondered how Ash’urn was doing, but Daim had made it clear he didn’t want her team coming and going, raising questions about what they might be doing. The fact that the Brryn woman had somehow managed to locate and send someone into Sulen to attack the residence where Rigo and Mitty usually lived, suggested more was known about them than they realized. It probably wouldn’t be wise for the woman to learn they were investigating the site of a former fortress of the Brryn.

  Chapter 45

  There are good reasons tha
t attacks often come in the early hours of the morning. The attack on Pagner came just before dawn for those very reasons. Without any prior warning, more than two dozen Bypass portals suddenly appeared at various locations around the capital city. Through these poured nearly twelve hundred armed Baldari, and a large contingent of wizards and Casters. The city defenders had no way of knowing how many at the time, but there were thirty-one Casters, and seventeen wizards. That was far more than anyone would have anticipated, and showed that more gifted had been taken by the Baldari than had been realized. The Outpost and the Guild were unaware that the individuals that were captured had been used to target others well away from the larger villages, who had been systematically sought and captured over the past couple of weeks. Like those taken more openly, they were now servants of the lavender haired woman who was behind the attacks against the Three Kingdoms and Sedfair.

  At the early hour, the defenses of Pagner were at a low point, despite every effort to keep the forces on alert. The wizards tasked with making the escape Bypasses for the removal of the citizens of the city had been mostly asleep, as had most of the population of Pagner. That meant the evacuation was slower than planned, and a number of citizens died as they encountered the sword bearing Baldari on the streets. A number of those tasked with creating the escape portals were killed before they were able to complete their assignments, which added to the confusion when people arrived at the designated locations to find there was no place to go.

  Even the defense locations were somewhat slow to react. The wizards assigned duty were not trained soldiers, and the many days of late hours dragged upon them. Most were asleep in the hardened bunkers, and were only effective because each team had been paired with guardsmen who were more used to the boring late night watches, and had been awake to detect the arrival of the enemy. There was a delay while they struggled to get the wizards and Casters at each location awake and functioning.

  The attacking forces on the other hand were prepared and knew their targets. Obviously the captured wizards had been mined for information. The very first forces through the Doorways unleashed powerful attacks on the castle, the combined beams of Brightfire converging on the private quarters of Kellmore’s King. The Brightfire was augmented by a single intense beam of Greenfire, which cut through the stone of the castle as if it were mere wood. King Briz was one of the first to die. Another group, this one led by Burke himself, unleashed a similar deadly attack on the barracks where the guardsmen were quartered. The barracks was reduced to rubble, and as soon as the attack with magical fire ended, another pair of Doorways appeared and close to two hundred Baldari poured out of the opening to search out and kill any survivors. Fortunately, less than a fourth of the King’s guardsmen had been in the barracks at the time, the rest on duty and distributed around the castle and the city.

  Elsewhere in the city, attacking wizards and Casters had unleashed powerful magic that had whole sections of the city in flames. It was obvious the intent was to create as much confusion and terror as possible, while the core of attackers destroyed Kellmore’s government, both the individuals and the structures that empowered it. Doorways flickered as the attacking Casters and wizards moved to preplanned locations, torched an area, and moved on to the next target.

  While initially slower to react than hoped, the defending forces were soon able to respond. The alert was triggered so the remote teams would learn of the attack, and those in fortified positions began to target those with magic which were the source of the worst destruction. The guardsmen were already clashing with the Baldari, although it was impossible to say who was faring best. The defenders had noted that Brightfire was the most common weapon being deployed. The belief that the more powerful Greenfire was limited to a few individuals was being born out. Not that it mattered. Brightfire was more than powerful enough to reduce any unfortunate individual targeted to greasy ash. Already, four of the attacking gifted had been targeted and destroyed by the defenders. A silent cheer went up by those who realized the attackers were not protected by the impenetrable barrier they had feared. That gave the defenders new hope, and they began to fight more determinedly than before, targeting both the Baldari warriors and any of the attackers they spotted. Care had to be taken so as not to target one of the defenders, but they had prearranged locations they were expected to be, whereas the attackers moved more randomly through the capital. The patrol, those ungifted guardsmen who had been taught how to trigger both Brightfire and Greenfire, were instrumental in slowing the advance of the Baldari. Even the weakened version of magic they controlled was far more potent than simple swords, and dozens of the attackers were swept away by the wand bearing guardsmen.

  Rigo, Nycoh, Jeen, and more than two dozen others had detected the call to battle which had been triggered by the team in Pagner. Multiple Bypass portals opened into Pagner, and the wizards from the Outpost poured into the preplanned locations in the capital. For the most part the wizards were paired. Rigo and Jeen moved together. Only Nycoh had insisted on being alone, and she moved silently and swiftly in search of the enemy. Twice she unleashed concentrated beams of Greenfire that took out enemy Casters. Thus far she didn’t recognize any of the kidnapped and controlled gifted, but then she didn’t know but a fraction of those in Sedfair. Then she caught a sign of Greenfire directed at one of the government buildings. Maybe she had located Shym.

  Rigo and Jeen had spotted a group of wizards who were attacking the city, clearly those who were under the control of the Brryn woman. When they worked their way close enough, they were able to see six wizards, being led and directed by Burke. They had already decided how this had to go, and Rigo unleashed a powerful beam of Greenfire across the open area and slamming into a pair of targeted wizards. Neither of those targeted were able to withstand the powerful energies, and simply disappeared in a dusty flash of green. Burke spun and fired a beam of Brightfire their way, but they had already jumped to another location through a Bypass Jeen had opened while Rigo was attacking.

  “It doesn’t appear that Burke has learned Greenfire,” Rigo shouted to Jeen as they stepped into position and scanned the remaining wizards from their new viewing point.

  “I haven’t seen any of the attackers using it,” Jeen agreed.

  They watched as Burke motioned the survivors of his small group toward cover even as he searched for where Rigo and Jeen had gone.

  “It appears Burke is in charge of this group,” Jeen whispered to Rigo.

  Rigo had to agree. He hated what must be done, but too much was at stake here. Their only hope was to eliminate those who had been taken by the Brryn. Those in her control were her weapons as well as a source of intelligence. The more they could deny her those two critical assets, the more chances for the Three Kingdoms. He had the shot now. Burke was in the open and unprotected. He might not have a chance later.

  As he prepared to unleash his magic, Rigo was startled by the intense blast of Greenfire that Jeen triggered. The beam flashed across the open space revealing their position, but striking Burke squarely in the center of the chest. As Rigo quickly opened a Bypass so they could relocate before Burke’s supporting wizards could fire back, he was shocked to see a bright ball of color surrounding Burke. Unlike the other attackers who appeared unprotected and vulnerable to the magical beams, Burke was somehow protected. He must have one of the powerful shields that had protected Shym in the past. As Jeen stepped into the waiting Bypass, Rigo quickly released his own beam of Greenfire at Burke, hoping the additional magic would be enough to overcome the shield. The ball around him grew in size and brightness, but he could see that inside Burke was still moving and appeared unhurt. Rigo’s use of combat magic had caused the Bypass he had created earlier to close, since he couldn’t have two spells in force simultaneously. Quickly he reopened the portal, and stepped through. As the Bypass transported him to the new location, Rigo knew that Burke was still alive somewhere behind him. He exited the Bypass to find a nervous looking Jeen waiting for him.
She verbally chastised him for pulling such a dangerous stunt.

  “Why do you think we are paired?” she snarled at him, her anger a reflection of her worry when Rigo hadn’t followed after her and the Bypass had suddenly closed behind her.

  Kytra, or the Brryn as Rigo called her, watched with concern as the battle for the capital city of Kellmore raged so far away. She had expected her attack to come as a surprise, and those gifted that might be present easy to overcome. She knew that the white-haired woman who could watch her would know that she had something planned, but there was no way she could have known where the attack was to take place. Yet somehow, they had been ready for her. Her helot, those now bound to her will, were being killed in unfortunate numbers. They were hard to replace, and it took time to convert them so they would be useful.

  She watched the battle unfold through the eyes of those she controlled directly. Each of the helot, the wizards and Casters as they called themselves, offered her eyes into events. Quickly she jumped between several of the more important of her subjects. Normally only a couple of the Baldari offered her similar views. Those were the Baldari who carried the torches with the power crystals. She could command them, see through their eyes, and trigger the defenses of the Baldari as they marched into or away from battle. In this battle, the Baldari could not be protected. The very barrier that protected them, prevented them from doing the job she wished them to accomplish. This time, none of them carried one of the torches.

  The wizard known as Burke had almost been destroyed, but Kytra had sensed the attack and shielded him with the powerful barrier that would block any of the magic these second rate sorcerers could command. Would that she was free to show them what a real sorcerer could do. Unfortunately, she was constrained to work through those she could control for a while longer. She could sense the constraints that held her weakening, but she was not free as yet, nor could she awaken those beside her to aid in this attack.