by Bob Blink
Daim considered the story and the map. He shot a glance at S’erom, whose eyes met his own without flinching. “If this is all true, the expedition will be an incredible effort. Moving through the mountains we have learned is actually easier, despite their apparent size. Bypass portals allow one to move to any location that can be seen. Getting through the jungles will be another matter. From the scale of the map, it will take weeks just to reach the first mountain range.”
“The question remains whether S’erom is to go along or stay in the oasis,” Rigo said. “Once we get into the mountains, his guidance may be critical to saving time. I’m not sure what advantage it would be to have him travel through the jungle with the team.”
“There remains the complication of protecting him,” Daim reminded them.
“Lyes may have brought an answer to that,” Ash’urn said, speaking up. He had been unusually quiet through most of the meeting. “When Nycoh asked if I could fetch him for this meeting, she asked me about something I’d mentioned to her. I spoke with Lyes while we were in Sedfair. I think you will be interested.”
Ash’urn looked at Lyes signaling him to take over. Lyes pulled out a small knapsack and reached inside. He placed a harness on the table that was studded with power crystals, and numerous glyphs engraved on the leather.
“Some of our scholars have been studying the torches recovered from the various Baldari attacks in the past. Now that we know that they were used in creating the protective barriers, there was hope we might be able to duplicate the effect. There was great emphasis on this task, as Casters cannot be protected the same as wizards, and many of our people are therefore very vulnerable. Fortunately, while the Repository hasn’t been as useful as we’d all like, it has helped with some things, this being one. Even some of the magic used in your own Hoplani towers gave some insight. The result is what you see. It is a little cumbersome, probably because our magic isn’t nearly as powerful or clever as what the Brryn use, but this harness provides a protective barrier for the wearer similar, if not quite as strong, as the barrier wizards can create.”
“This can be used by someone without Casting ability?” Rigo asked.
“It needs to be activated by a Caster, but after that it doesn’t matter who or what is inside its field.”
“Are you certain it will block the mental link and protect the Baldari?” Nycoh asked uncertainly.
“We will have to experiment, but I cannot see why it would be any different than the fields we wizards create. It will also be far more flexible, eliminating the need to have the Baldari and a wizard inside the same barrier, which makes movement difficult and limits the wizard in many ways. We can test it at the oasis where the Baldari are being detained. They are already inside a barrier that protects them. We can equip a Baldari, or a pair, and see if they can communicate.”
“I see a problem,” Daim said. “If this works, and the Baldari is cut off so as to be protected from the Brryn, how will Nycoh be able to communicate with him? If he drops the fields so he can communicate, he becomes vulnerable to the Brryn, and might even give away the location of the team.”
Ash’urn smiled. “We can thank Fen for something he discovered. The Brryn must have the same issue, as the torch bearers used to protect attacking Baldari are inside the protected field as the force traveled. Fen discovered that the crystals in the harness can be effectively mated to another set or sets outside the barrier. Anyone having one of the mated crystals will be able to overcome the blockage of the barrier and communicate.”
“How have you managed to test this?” Daim asked.
“We haven’t,” Lyes admitted, but the symbols clearly suggest this to be the case. It will be another thing to verify, but I’m certain it will work.”
“If it does,” then there is a way that S’erom can be brought to the team’s location when he can be useful in providing guidance,” Daim agreed. “If it doesn’t, the current method can still be used, but it has some drawbacks.”
Nycoh took some time while the others continued to discuss the logistics of the expedition, to explain what they intended. She described the harness and what it was believed it could do, and when he might be needed when they got close to the far range of mountains.
“He wants to go along,” Nycoh said, interrupting the discussion that had been progressing without her.
Rigo and Daim looked at her.
“Why would he want to come along?” Ardra asked suspiciously.
“He has lost a lot of friends,” Nycoh replied, defending the Baldari who was somehow becoming a friend. “He would like to have a chance to strike back. He also indicates that it would be difficult for you to travel through the jungle without some help. It is a long way, and you don’t truly appreciate the dangers. He can also help with other Baldari who are encountered.”
“I was hoping we wouldn’t encounter any other tribes,” Daim said. “That might reveal what we are up to.”
“Maybe he can help with that as well,” Nycoh said. “He has a suggestion for helping the team move more quickly and safely through the jungle.”
“What would that be?” Ardra asked uncertainly.
“You’re going to love this,” Nycoh said with a smile. “He suggests that whoever goes, rides a U’nydyn.”
“Ride a what?” Rigo asked.
“A U’nydyn,” Nycoh replied. “One of their ponies. They are adapted to the jungle, move very quickly and tirelessly, and many of the usually dangerous creatures we would encounter are afraid of them. Anything big enough to threaten them we can easily handle with our magic.”
“Those things are dangerous,” Ardra said. “Their bite is usually fatal. And they are one of the most aggressive creatures I have ever seen.”
Rigo had to agree. What he had seen of the creatures was not encouraging, and he didn’t think he would feel comfortable around them. The idea was even more distasteful than the Hoplani he had once ridden.
“S’erom says they are docile enough when controlled. That is something he can do easily enough.”
“And if something happens to S’erom?” Jeen asked. “There would have to be a lot of those things if the same group headed up by Tara and Debi are to go.”
Nycoh nodded. “You wouldn’t want to be around them if there were no Baldari to keep them under control. S’erom suggested that he and half a dozen of his fellow Baldari go along.”
“I don’t like the way this is going,” Ardra said. “Now there will be an armed force of Baldari riding with the group?”
“You’ve got to put aside the past,” Ash’urn cautioned her. “You need to focus on what must be done, and our supposed enemies were being controlled. It is not them with whom we have issue. A handful of Baldari against fifty wizards. That same group took down the entire force that was sent against them at S’erom’s home village.”
“They will be shielded this time, so it will be different,” Ardra complained.
“They will be shielded, controlled by Nycoh, and perhaps others. Even if they wished, there is little they could do against us. I think Nycoh is right, in any event. I think they wish for their own revenge. I am more concerned how the Baldari will control the U’nydyn.” The awkward name rolled off Ash’urn’s lips naturally.
“What do you mean?” asked Rigo.
“If they are shielded, how are they going to be able to communicate with the mounts?”
“We can make up some kind of harness with mated crystals for the U’nydyn as well,” Lyes suggested.
“Will that work?” Daim asked.
“I don’t see why not,” Lyes said. “All of this needs to be tried out.
“There’s going to be the simple matter of getting the harnesses on the beasts in the first place,” Daria pointed out. “S’erom and his friends need to remain shielded at all times since we can’t know if or whether this Brryn woman can sense them. How are the U’nydyn controlled until the harness is in place to open the link?”
“Obviously ther
e are issues to be worked out,” Nycoh agreed. “We can get to that if we agree this is what we want to do. That’s the immediate issue we need to settle.”
“I can’t see any better way, assuming this all works,” Daim said, addressing Nycoh. “I need you and Lyes and Ash’urn, and I guess S’erom here, to see if you can make this work. Rigo and Ardra and I will explain to the team what we are going to expect of them. I can imagine how most are going to react to the idea of riding on one of those nasty beasts day after day.”
After a few more issues were covered, they prepared to break up, when Jeen summarized for them what she had seen at the dig. She explained in detail what the strange crystal object looked like and that it would be arriving at the test site some time later in the day. Given the linkage between crystals and protective barriers, she wondered if there might be something important they needed to try and discover.
“If it was a source for a protective barrier, maybe for the whole fortress, then it appears somehow it was overcome,” Ash’urn noted. “It might be very useful to know how that was accomplished.”
Chapter 57
Nycoh and S’erom waited in a corner of the large oasis that was least often frequented by the other Baldari living in the small patch of green in the middle of the hostile desert that was the Ruins. Their activities weren’t exactly secret, but they also weren’t making a point of broadcasting what they were up to. At the moment they were waiting for the sudden arrival of one of the U’nydyn through a Bypass from the southern jungle. The team seeking one of the creatures was operating a long way from where S’erom’s village had once existed. He had told Nycoh that it didn’t matter where they found the U’nydyn. All would be equally suitable.
If the situation had been normal. S’erom could have approached any of the fearsome mounts, taken control of it mentally, and that would have been the end of the matter. Unfortunately, to do so, S’erom would have to be unshielded so that he could make the mental connection. That would mean he would be open and accessible to the Brryn, which was exactly what all of this was supposed to prevent.
A great deal of discussion had gone into the likelihood the Brryn could, or would detect S’erom’s presence if he were to appear for a short time unshielded. There were, after all, probably several million Baldari in the southern jungles, and the woman couldn’t possibly selectively monitor all of them all the time. It was far more likely she could force her will upon groups of them located in select areas at a time, and somehow plant some kind of response mechanism so that those she was controlling at the moment would be recognizable to her. Rigo has argued that once she was finished with them, say at the end of a mission, she would probably release her awareness of them. The problem was, they simply didn’t know. It was very possible that the whole of S’erom’s village could wander around the jungles undetected by the Brryn. On the other hand, if she decided to check on them for some reason, she might be able to sense that some who were supposedly dead had returned.
S’erom was also a special case. He had been one of her generals, so to speak. She had controlled him far more directly than most, relying on giving him special orders and having him direct the masses, which were only under a widespread general direction to “do what was ordered”. His mind might have a special characteristic, or somehow be known to her more specifically. It was possible she had somehow left him with some kind of location trigger, that would make her aware of him and where he was, should he appear. They simply couldn’t risk it.
The last couple of days had been hectic, and while they had met with a number of successes, the logistics of getting such an undertaking in place so quickly was daunting. Nycoh was already feeling a sense of delay. It had been three days since they had all agreed to send the team in search of S’erom’s mountain, and already she felt as if the delays were putting the kingdoms at risk. It would be another four or five days before they could begin, and that was if everything went as smoothly as it had thus far. Rationally, she knew the journey was going to take weeks, and a few days wouldn’t matter, but she couldn’t help worry that the Brryn was planning some new atrocity that would be launched before they could locate her. Mitty had indicated she seemed to be less active than before, and had even appeared to be asleep a couple of times when she observed her, but Nycoh wondered if that was some kind of ruse. It was apparent the woman could sense Mitty’s presence, and this might be her way of putting them at ease before a surprise she was preparing was dumped on them.
The Guild was also being stretched to try and prepare all of the special harnesses they thought they would need. They had gathered the materials, and since the initial tests, had been able to begin some of the required units. Testing between the Baldari had gone well. When S’erom had donned the special unit two days before, his fellow Baldari here at the oasis had been surprised when they couldn’t “speak” with him. Nycoh was equally cut off. Lyes and his people had indeed discovered how to build a device that would provide Casters some of the same protections as the barriers Koess had given to the wizards.
Two Baldari wearing the harnesses with mated crystals, were once again able to communicate. S’erom complained of some deadening of the mental link between them, but it wasn’t something that would be limiting. It was more a matter of the unnatural feel. A harness made for Nycoh, which was configured only to affect the link – she would use her own, vastly superior shields for protection – allowed her to communicate with S’erom and the other shielded Baldari once again.
Assuming the plan with the U’nydyn worked as well, a total of six Baldari would be traveling with them on the expedition. S’erom had already chosen the five members of his village he wanted to come along. Just this morning the harnesses had arrived from Sedfair, and the five chosen Baldari were wearing them and getting used to the altered communication they would have to contend with. Despite directions otherwise, Nycoh had discovered they had been testing the protection the shields afforded them, using the various camp knives to test whether one could cut another. They were greatly surprised and delighted by the fact they were so magically shielded from harm.
Debi would wear one of the harnesses as well. While she was unable to communicate with the Baldari using the mental link – none of them had been able to do so, even when S’erom tried with each of them – she would be able to link to the crystals of the Baldari harnesses and turn the protective fields on and off. Turning off the fields was not something anyone envisioned them doing, but it was a requirement Ardra had placed on the mission. She felt it was a reasonable precaution if her people were to go into the wilds with a number of armed Baldari. If some treachery was planned, she didn’t want the shields they had provided aiding the Baldari. Lyes had resisted, but Ardra had been adamant, and Queen Jusay had granted her wish. If Sedfair was to send anyone, this condition had to be met. Since Nycoh wanted the expertise of Debi and Crissi, as well as some of the other experienced members of their team who had spent weeks in the jungles, she’d had to comply.
“Hopefully we won’t encounter any other tribes of Baldari,” S’erom was saying. They hadn’t activated their harnesses for the moment, since the first thing S’erom would need to do was take control of any U’nydyn that appeared, and he wouldn’t be able to do so if shielded. Here inside the barrier around the oasis, he was protected against the Brryn. “We must make every effort to avoid them. I will be unable to communicate with them because of this harness, and even if I could, they will not be safe. If the Controller were to learn of our presence through them, she would simply override any goodwill they might feel from me, and direct them to kill us. Our mission would be revealed, and we would have an army to fight.”
Nycoh was aware of this. It was imperative that the Brryn not learn of their travels toward the southern mountains. The wizards could conceal themselves using magic to make themselves invisible should the need arise. Fortunately the protective barrier did not disallow other spelling. Every attempt to wrap the invisibility spell around one of
the Baldari warriors failed. The harness that protected them from being located, also prevented the magic from hiding them. They would have to be clever enough to hide themselves if an encounter appeared likely. If they were discovered, the only approach would be to kill those who had seen them, or stun the lot and relocate them here to the oasis. Neither was desirable, and would assure a major search was triggered when the local tribes realized many of their people had gone missing.
As they waited for the U’nydyn, Nycoh couldn’t help wonder how it was going. Not too well, she gathered, based on the fact it was taking so long. One problem was that U’nydyn, unlike horses, couldn’t be herded or directed easily. Such attempts usually elicited attacks rather than flight from the beasts. She chafed at the delay resulting from acquiring and testing the nasty mounts, but S’erom was correct that any delays would be more than offset by the advantages of having the mounts carry them. Debi had schooled Nycoh in the horrors of the jungle, and if the beasts could help offset many of those, she was ready to agree to what they were planning.
Suddenly a wizard she recognized appeared out of the air a short distance away. He was followed almost immediately by another. That was two of the four who had gone in search of the U’nydyn. The two wizards split and ran at right angles to each other. The second man through, continued running full out in the direction he had been heading when he appeared. The other moved quickly off to his left. Nycoh could see their plan as the angry U’nydyn burst out of nowhere in full pursuit of the running wizards. Everything that Nycoh recalled about the beasts suddenly came back. The strange appearance, the mouth full of nightmarish pointed and deadly teeth, the scales, and the fury in the red eyes. She couldn’t believe she intended to even approach one of these things, let alone ride upon it.
The U’nydyn was rapidly closing the gap between itself and the running wizard. Nycoh could see the first of the wizards through the portal had positioned himself and was prepared to blast the attacking U’nydyn from existence if the control that S’erom was suppose to exert on the beast failed. Nycoh heard a strange chuckle and turned to see S’erom laughing at the sight before him. Then, realizing the seriousness of the task, he took control.
