by Bob Blink
“I want to show you something,” Kytra said, and took them to the oasis in the Ruins where the halfmen and the Hoplani had been created. She showed them the underground caverns where the creatures had been spawned for thousands of years.
“Why would he have created this, if he were in charge of the world?” she asked. “What purpose would it serve? This is something that would have been created to eradicate the remainder of those that had survived the Conflict. Something that could act while he was busy elsewhere. Why also did he not undo the effects of the Ruins? If he ruled, he would have wanted the land restored.”
Hyndl nodded his agreement. “This is very like Nyk,” he said. “Perhaps something happened to him after he created this place. Whatever transpired, he may have left progeny we need to be aware of. Perhaps he didn’t rule as Tryll suggests, but he was always one to intermix with the natives. Those like him were the cause of the rebel wizards.”
Kytra ran her hands over the rough walls of the cavern. The facility was slowly regenerating itself. In another fifty years it would once again start producing the creatures. The rebels had not been as thorough as they had thought. For a moment she considered simply bringing it back to full production immediately. It wouldn’t take much effort. More of the Hoplani would certainly be another distraction for them. Then she let her hand fall from the surface of the cavern wall. Even if the beasts were in full production, it would take them months to make the journey to the far off lands. By then, this matter should already be resolved. She would let the caverns develop naturally. If all went well, she would return and end it. If not, well she could always activate it later.
They spent the next couple of days jumping around the kingdoms, becoming familiar with the various lands and the seats of power. On the second day they brought several citizens from the kingdom of Branid to the island for mental probing, where they extracted the memories, before discarding the useless bodies into the sea. That had worked well enough they repeated the process each of the next several days, acquiring victims from various locations. By the end of the week they were very comfortable with the languages and history of the land. Surprisingly the understanding of history by those they had taken was very vague. There had been a series of plagues that had been quite devastating over the millennia, and a hint of a major anomaly several thousand years ago. Perhaps if they could acquire one or more of the wizards they might be able to learn about that. The average citizens were not very helpful, and were every bit as primitive as Hyndl had feared.
The Brryn had never been particularly gregarious, and now that all three were mostly recovered, sharing the poorly restored accommodations provided by Kytra was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Hyndl’s private quarters, also on one of the nearby islands, had never had the underground areas, and nothing was left but hints of the foundations. The island had fully reverted to its natural state, and unlike Kytra, he had little interest in reclaiming it. Tryll had always lived within the ancient cities, almost always on the western shores overlooking the oceans. Now that they were fluent in the local language and customs, and had acquired a suitable supply of the currencies in use, they decided to separate and see what they could learn. Hyndl would move into Sedfair, and explore the seat of power there. Tryll would relocate into Branid, and learn what she could of the western kingdoms. Kytra planned to remain where she was. It might take time, but she fully intended to restore her home to its former glory. She had her own list of locations she wished to investigate, including having another look at the old location of their Citadel. It was gone, but perhaps there was something that could be recovered that would be of use.
They agreed to a week. That should be more than enough time to establish whether a corps of senior wizards existed somewhere. If Kytra was correct, and the preliminary information they had gained supported her claim there wasn’t any such group, then their plan going forward was already decided. They would eliminate the strongholds known as the Guild and Outpost, and then search out and eliminate as many of the wizards as they could find. Next, all seats of government would be destroyed. Then they could start to rebuild properly, while continuing to seek and eliminate any of the rebels who had managed to escape the initial attacks. If, on the other hand, they learned of a group with superior powers, they would rethink their plan before proceeding. They would meet back at Kytra’s island at the end of the discovery period with what they had learned.
Chapter 73
“It’s gone, all gone,” Lyes managed weakly. Like Rigo he had never been that good at healing, at least himself, and his arm was badly burned. “They hit us suddenly and nothing we could do mattered at all.” Somehow he had managed to cross the Ruins despite his wounds and apparent confusion in an attempt to warn those at the Outpost of the attack.
“What about Nycoh?’ Rigo asked. “Where is she?”
“I don’t know,” Lyes said miserably. “She was fighting back, but disappeared while I was trying to get some of the others out.”
Rigo felt a chill. Nycoh couldn’t be lost. They had feared this was coming, and now it appeared to be starting.
Ashli, their most accomplished medical wizard, was busy working her magic to heal the burns and restore Lyes’ strength. She tried to push Rigo away, telling him to wait until she was finished to question their patient, but Lyes resisted. “They are probably coming here next,” he said. “You have got to get everyone out.”
“What happened?” Rigo asked when Ashli had finished. He had already sent someone to fetch Daim.
“They simply appeared and started attacking. They move more quickly than we do, and they don’t seem to be constrained to unleashing a single spell. They were firing destructive bolts and relocating almost simultaneously. It is clear they were very familiar with the layout of the castle and the Guild.”
“I thought most everyone had relocated?” Rigo asked.
“Many have, but like here, everything can’t come to a complete halt. Nothing has been happening for many days since the encounter in the valley, and a number of people have drifted back. Even the Queen insisted that there were matters that required attention. She and Ardra were in the administrative wing when the attack came.”
Rigo was about to ask when the haunted look in Lyes eyes told him more than words.
“The protective barriers around the structures didn’t help,” Rigo said softly.
Lyes nodded. “It was as Jeen warned. The man, the one Jeen called Hyndl created some kind of black cloud. It sparkled with gold stars and drifted quickly toward the buildings. There was a flash as the cloud interacted with the shield. Then when he triggered a wave of green light, wider and more intense than even our strongest Greenfire, the buildings simply crumbled as if they were made of sand. The smaller one, Tryll, was helping with a continuous stream of small, bright balls of white magic. Within a few minutes there was nothing left of the royal buildings. Ardra and Queen Jusay and Risos knows how many nobles were inside. They must all have been killed instantly.”
“Where was the other one, the one we have been dealing with so long?” Rigo asked.
“Kytra,” Lyes said. He was far better with names than Rigo. “She was attacking the Guild buildings while the other two were focused on the government facilities. She seemed particularly intent on seeing them destroyed.”
Lyes paused as Daim came hurrying up. Rigo explained that the Guild and government in Nals had been attacked by the Brryn, and apparently destroyed. Daim looked toward Lyes, who nodded sadly.
“I was just explaining how the woman named Kytra was demolishing our Guild. It had only recently been completed. Debi, Crissi and I were trying to fire back at her, but nothing had any effect. Brightfire, Greenfire, Powerballs. All had absolutely no effect. They didn’t even create a glow in her protective barrier even though all of us were firing simultaneously. She simply laughed and released a counter attack of her own. Her magic cut though our shields as if they didn’t exist.”
“Could you tell what kin
d of magic she was using?” Daim asked.
“Another spell I’ve never seen before. It looked like a triad of multi-colored helixes, all interwoven. The first one struck Crissi square on. She simply burst into flame, a bright ball of white fire inside the boundaries of her protective barrier. She ceased to exist before the ball could strike the ground.”
“What about Debi?’ Rigo asked.
“She was quick, and the next beam only caught her a glancing blow, but it still punched through her shield and knocked her out. She crashed into a building which burst into intense flame. I was trying to get her out when I got burned. By the time I was able to drag her free, she was dead. Just to show her contempt, Kytra totally ignored me as unimportant. I wasn’t attacking, and she had other matters on her mind.”
“We didn’t get a signal of the attack,” Daim said, looking intently at Lyes.
“I know,” he replied nodding. “Everything happened so fast, and I didn’t want you to send people. It would have been a slaughter. I realized there was nothing I could do. I saw more than a dozen Casters attempt to resist, and all of them were destroyed effortlessly. Our magic is no match for what they have. Those who have survived need to flee and we need to figure out what to do.”
“Where are they now?” Daim asked.
“Probably coming here,” Lyes replied. “When I sneaked away, the three of them had regrouped having totally destroyed the complex, and were headed toward the University. It is a good thing we sent all of the students home a couple of weeks ago. I have no doubt that facility no longer exists either.”
“They obviously know exactly where to go,” Daim said. “We expected that. After being able to poke around in the minds of the captives, they must have learned most of our secrets.”
“They also have spent the last two weeks planning what they wanted to do,” Rigo added.
Just then a tired and haunted looking Nycoh appeared. Apparently Ashli had told her where to find them.
“I think they are coming here,” she said. “They were chasing down wizards and Casters who tried to flee when they destroyed the dormitories. It is pretty obvious they can track our portals, even when we attempt to mask them. The only hope appears to be if there are too many for them to follow up on, or they arrive too late. I saw one of the blocking chambers underground explode out of the ground. It appears their attempts to block the Brryn fail against their magic as well. Everyone needs to get out now. The Outpost won’t be able to withstand their attack anymore than the Guild did. None of my magic had any effect against them, so there is little point in trying to resist.”
Daim nodded. “We need to spread the word. Fortunately not too many remain. Tell everyone you see, then get out yourselves. We four should regroup at Rosul’s old island compound.”
Daim turned and hurried away. As Lyes stood, Rigo lay a restraining hand. “What about Mitty?” he asked.
“She wasn’t there. I can’t say if they know about her or where she is, but it’s a long way away and not a center for magic. She should be as safe there as anywhere. I’m sorry I don’t know more.”
Rigo withdrew his hand and Nycoh and Lyes hurried off together. Rigo was certain they would stay together from this point on. He realized how much he wished Mitty were at his side. Suddenly the issue between them didn’t seem as important as it had. He would go to her as soon as he warned the others in the Outpost.
Rigo hurried down the hallway and headed for the lower levels. He knew that there were scholars, those like Ash’urn, who simply hated to leave. He expected he might find one or two still in the workrooms below. As he hurried, he considered what Lyes had just revealed. Ardra dead. Crissi and Debi and how many others whose names he might learn later. Queen Jusay as well. The Guild was destroyed once again, along with the seat of Sedfair’s government and many of the nobles who had tried to make it work after the removal of the plotting Saltique. Jeen had been right. The Brryn wanted to eliminate them, and apparently had the means to do so. He could see no way to respond that wouldn’t simply get them all killed, and hiding out didn’t seem to be a workable long term solution. Once again his mind jumped to Mitty. He hoped she was safe.
He found a couple of senior scholars doing exactly what he had expected. Despite being told to leave days ago, they were still down in the workroom, examining something that had come from the dig down near Roin.
“Get out now!’ he scolded them. “The Brryn are on their way as I speak. They have already destroyed the Guild in Sedfair and killed everyone there.”
Rigo hoped that wasn’t true, at least the part about having killed everyone, but he wanted to make an impression. At first it seemed they might argue, but a closer look at his face, and they suddenly stood up, grabbed a couple of smaller items, and fled the room.
Rigo decided that he had done all he could. He made a Bypass and left the Outpost behind. Instead of fleeing for someplace far away, he had chosen a concealed spot he and Mitty knew of across the valley, where he could watch the Outpost to see what happened. He hoped the Brryn would be focused on the facility and not on chasing down those who had fled. If they came looking for him, he wouldn’t have much hope. If Nycoh couldn’t stand up to them, he knew he had little hope. With the knowledge Ash’urn had given him, and the strange transformation that had taken place, he felt more powerful than ever, but Nycoh had those same enhancements, and was skilled with both branches of magic.
Rigo was surprised by the number of Bypass portals he was detecting from the Outpost. There must have been more people still there than he realized. He hoped everyone was out. He couldn’t tell where they were going as all were masked, something that Nycoh suggested wouldn’t detour the Brryn.
Then the Brryn were there. Rigo didn’t know what caught his attention. He certainly didn’t sense their arrival, but he hadn’t expected to. They were closer than he liked, on his side of the valley. Now he had to hope his shield worked as he believed. While it wouldn’t stand up to their attack, it should prevent them from sensing him. It would hopefully hide the presence of one who had the gift. If they were wrong about that, he had very little chance of getting away. This was starting to look like another one of his poorer decisions.
Much as Lyes had described, one of the trio produced a large black cloud that floated toward the exterior of the Outpost. The black, which was dark enough to mask everything beyond it, sparked with gold diamonds as it moved. When it reached the field that had been so carefully put in place to protect the facility from attack, the two forms of magic clashed violently. A bright flash erupted along the interface, and part of the cloud vanished, only to be replaced as the missing part was quickly replaced by more of the strange magic. Within a few moments of the first interaction, the flash dissipated, and the cloud drifted onward, crackling strangely as it encountered the stone of the mountain which formed the exterior of their home.
Two of the Brryn triggered the waves of green energy that Lyes had also described, while the third resorted to the balls of searing white energy. Rigo wondered if she lacked the ability to produce the magic the others favored, or whether she simply preferred the other.
The effect of the Brryn magic was immediately apparent. Great booms and sharp cracks were emitted as the rock side of the great mountain split in response to the assault. Already large sections were shearing off and tumbling into the valley below. Rigo could see small holes in the remaining stone that he knew were the hallways in the interior that he had walked so many times over the years. The Brryn increased their efforts, and more of the powerful magic was directed at the mountain across the valley. More and more of the rock sheared away, and as it fell the balls of white power the third Brryn was releasing caught it and smashed it into rubble.
Before long the attack had progressed to the deepest levels of the Outpost’s penetration into the mountain. Just as a last section was breaking free of the hillside, Rigo sensed a Bypass that had formed, taking someone away from the attack. Who it was and how they had surviv
ed the onslaught Rigo couldn’t guess. Apparently the Brryn had detected the Bypass as well, and as Rigo watched, the man, Hyndl, laughed and he simply disappeared. There was little doubt in Rigo’s mind that he had gone after whoever it was. Not long afterwards he returned with a grin. He had apparently caught up with the fleeing wizard, further proof of what Nycoh had guessed about their ability to track even masked portals.
The trio continued to pound the mountain with bursts of magic, long after they had destroyed the side far deeper than had been accessed by the wizards. Finally, they stopped, and took a moment to observe their handiwork. Then they simply disappeared. Rigo wondered where they were going, but guessed it wouldn’t be wise to be in any of the kingdom’s castles today. He hoped the various leaders had taken the warnings to heart. Jeen had claimed that Rhory and Mos’pera had relocated. He knew Jeen had moved her family out of the castle, and Sulen entirely.
He stayed in place for a long time. The Brryn might be being tricky, and might be waiting to see who, if anyone, was hiding and observing. In less than a quarter glass they had reduced the thousand year old fortress to broken rock. The future looked very grim just now.
After he had waited an appropriate period, with no sign of the Brryn, and no sign of survivors or the appearance of other portals, Rigo cautiously opened his own Bypass and started on his way to Sedfair. He paused at one of the oases he visited, waiting with a Bypass open, just in case the Brryn were following. If they were, it was unlikely he would be able to escape, but he was determined he wouldn’t be leading them to Mitty.
Almost a full glass later he arrived at the country estate where the former Queen now lived. To his immense relief, nothing looked out of place. The structure looked as it had the last time he had visited. The lawns were green, and a pair of horses wandered lazily around the corral. There had been no attack here. Expectantly, wondering how Mitty would react to his presence, he walked up and knocked on the door. A servant he recognized from his last visit answered, and clearly recognized him as well.
