by Bob Blink
“You don’t mean here. I could have a place somewhere else, and they could find that.” She considered the idea for a moment. “That might be less likely to alert them. They might consider it odd that they have a battle with you, and then suddenly locate your hideout after weeks of searching without success.”
“They will have to find you in a manner that doesn’t involve following you,” Hyndl pointed out. “Once they know where you stay, they will believe they can establish a trap once again. Then they will wait for you, or if they encounter you and you disappear, they will guess you have gone to ground and go to where they believe you have gone. It will be a place where they don’t have cover, and we will both be waiting for them.”
“What about the white-haired woman we captured and they recovered?”
“We should have simply killed her,” Kytra acknowledged. “I have sensed nothing of her since I wrapped her in the containment field. They may have gotten her back, but I doubt they have found a way of freeing her. I hope not. She is the one link that could lead them here.”
“When can we make this happen?” Hyndl asked. “Soon I hope.”
“They will be reluctant to take chances for a few days. Anything too soon and they would be immediately suspicious. That gives us some time to find where I have supposedly been hiding and set things up.”
Chapter 86
“He was so powerful,” Jeen said, her face flushed. She was as aware as the others that Hyndl had been making a move for her. Another few minutes and she would have had nowhere to hide. She had been on the verge of having to flee to prevent being exposed to the killing magic the Brryn controlled. Jeen’s primitive shields wouldn’t have stood a chance against the magic.
They were back in Nals. They had gone to an intermediate spot agreed upon, and then Rigo had brought everyone back by an untraceable Transfer. He had wanted to chase down Fen, but the young Caster and those with him had taken off as well. Hopefully all were safe. It had been a bold move on their part, and as angry as Rigo was about the risks they had taken, he was not unaware they had made the difference.
“It was close,” Rigo admitted. “Closer than I would have believed possible. I thought the danger would have been if he were able to call for Kytra. I wouldn’t have believed he could withstand the three of us at once. We have a serious problem on our hands.”
Rigo and his fellow wizards had learned that much. They now had a realization of the abilities of the two remaining Brryn, and they could be reasonably confident that Hyndl wasn’t able to call Kytra for assistance. Rigo was certain they had him worried for a bit. If he had been able to, he would have sent for her.
“They might not have felt the need before,” Nycoh said. “They didn’t know for sure of our existence. Now they do. They might decide after this that they need a means to contact one another. I think it would be unwise to simply assume they can’t in the future.”
The encounter had indeed revealed a lot to the Brryn. They now knew for certain who had killed Tryll. They also now knew that each of the Brryn capable wizards were far weaker than themselves. While they might not be entirely certain that there were only two with abilities with the advanced magic, they had to suspect as much. It would have been likely for more to have been at the ambush if they existed.
“I had hoped we could get him,” Jeen muttered disappointedly.
“That was never the intent,” Rigo reminded her.
Like himself, in the middle of the encounter he had somewhat lost sight of what they were doing. It had been a risk, and they couldn’t be certain what all the repercussions might be; to themselves and the populace of the kingdoms. Queen Mos’pera had foretold the encounter between Rigo and Hyndl was necessary, and that it had to end as it did, if there were to be any hope of winning. As it was, they had cheated. After discussing what they had heard from the Queen, they decided she hadn’t indicated the encounter need be strictly the two men. It might have to start that way, but they decided Rigo wouldn’t have to fight him alone. It was wise they had acted as they had. Rigo certainly would have lost had he been on his own.
“I hope she was right then,” Jeen said. She and those she had Linked with had been at the most risk in the encounter. With no advanced shields for protection during the attack, they could easily have been victims. Since they hadn’t been mentioned in Mos’pera’s foretelling, they had hoped they would be spared. They had, but only because of Fen’s actions.
“They will hunt together,” Lyes predicted. “Any chance we might have had of facing them singly is lost. I cannot see how that has helped us.”
Lyes had been part of Jeen’s Linked team. While the others had temporarily gone back into hiding, he had stayed to be with Nycoh and see what was decided.
“Perhaps not together,” Rigo agreed. “Perhaps at the same time, but separated.”
“How would that be accomplished?” Nycoh asked. “We are not strong enough to split our effort.”
“I don’t know,” Rigo admitted. “At least not yet. We will have to watch and see how they proceed. Hopefully something will be revealed.”
“They are back together,” Suline said. “Hyndl returned to the island almost the same time as you arrived back here.”
“Let’s see,” Rigo said.
Suline nodded and opened the Ghost Doorway into the underground part of Kytra’s complex. They could see the two Brryn, but nothing was being said.
“I wish they would speak,” Jeen complained. She had learned some of the Brryn language during the aborted Linking back in the valley. Not enough to be fluent, but enough she might have picked out words and hints at what they were planning.
“They don’t need to,” Nycoh said. She had the ability to pass mental thoughts and knew it was more efficient to communicate that way. They would not be learning anything about the Brryn’s intentions by listening in. Jeen would have to hope the actions taken by Kytra and Hyndl would reveal what they needed to know.
“I know it is a hardship,” Rigo told Suline, “but we need to have them watched anytime they are present.”
Suline nodded. She had expected as much.
Two days later they had learned very little beyond the fact that Hyndl was now staying on the island with Kytra. Wherever he had been in the past, they had apparently agreed it best to spend their down time in the security of her hideout. They disappeared together during the day. Thus far, Rigo and the others had no idea where. They had not heard of them being sighted anywhere. Rigo was certain they were searching for them, however.
On the third day, Hyndl and Kytra had left as usual and they were staring through Suline’s Ghost Doorway at the now quiet underground room on the faraway island, when Nycoh surprised everyone by suddenly saying, “I want to have a look around in there.” She was pointing at the scene they had all been watching for the past glass.
“You must be kidding,” Lyes said hopefully, but he knew Nycoh well enough to know she was serious.
“It’s the only place we know of where the Brryn can be reliably found. After weeks of searching, we have no real idea where they are hiding. It could take months to finally get a location, only to have them discover what we have learned and move on leaving us worst off than we are now. It’s impossible to plan anything under these conditions, meanwhile they are gradually finding and eliminating our colleagues.”
Nycoh looked at her friends.
“We need to take some kind of action. Here they are confident and relaxed. You can see it in their manner. Kytra even sheds her shield when she enters the house under the protection of the facility barrier. Maybe we can use that.”
“How?” Lyes asked coolly. He didn’t like where Nycoh was going with this. He had been there for the last encounter.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “That’s why we need to go there and have a look.”
“Surprise,” Suline said, remembering what Daria had done with Shym. “If we could get to Kytra before she realizes the danger, it would make the chan
ces of success far greater. That would leave just Hyndl”
“Who is normally shielded,” Rigo reminded them. “Even inside, he remains protected. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him when we couldn’t detect the fuzzy outline of his personal barrier. Consider the consequences of an angry Hyndl. What he could do, and how he could go to ground. We don’t know where he was hiding before, and once he learns this place is compromised, he won’t be back.”
“Perhaps he drops his shield once he goes to bed,” Nycoh suggested.
They couldn’t watch what happened once the Brryn retired to the back rooms. Tryll hadn’t been there during her visits, and thus the Reading hadn’t provided them with any memory that allowed a Doorway to be made into that section of the house. Suline had tried to reposition the Ghost Doorway manually to that area, but had encountered some kind of resistance that prevented her from doing so.
“If we go there, we can learn a lot more about the place,” she continued. “Maybe we can find a place to hide, or learn what exactly is in the back rooms. Once we’ve visited, we could then make a Doorway to monitor what happens in there. What if Hyndl releases his shields and goes to sleep. We might be able to bring them down while they are unaware. It would end this simply. We need intelligence. Go get Daria. Ask her. She’d tell you the same thing, you know it.”
“They aren’t there to detect your arrival if you Transfer in,” Jeen agreed softly.
“No! Not that way,” Rigo said emphatically. “We can’t be sure they haven’t some means of detecting remotely if a Transfer takes place. If we decide to do this, we need to go via the Ghost Doorway. At least there we know they cannot sense the breach. We have monitored them in the room multiple times. Besides, Suline can keep a close watch and extract us instantly if needed.”
“It sounds like you are agreeing with this,” Lyes said unhappily.
“Nycoh might be right. This might be our best opportunity. We risk disclosing our knowledge of the place, but what are we learning. Since they don’t communicate in a manner we can track, we have really learned very little in the past few days. I am beginning to believe we won’t learn very much no matter how long we watch remotely.”
“When would you propose to do this?’ Jeen asked.
“How about right now?” Nycoh asked.
Rigo and Nycoh would be the only ones going. The Ghost Doorway would be their primary plan of escape, but if the need arose they each could make a Transfer and get away. While the Transfer would allow them to carry away others, the need to include additional people in the Transfer would require a small delay, how much depending on where they were with respect to the person triggering the departure. That could be enough to be a problem. Also, they could create shields to protect themselves. The shields of the rest would be useless against a Brryn attack.
After agreeing on what would trigger a recall, Nycoh signaled Suline, who replaced the viewing portal with one Rigo and Nycoh could step through. Moments later they emerged into the underground room they had spent so many hours monitoring. When they stepped into the Doorway, their primary thought had been whether the Brryn would somehow detect their presence and show up within moments of their arrival. Their physical presence could conceivably trigger some kind of alarm to Kytra. As they stepped through, however, they realized they had a different problem
“It’s like the Ruins,” Rigo said softly, but loud enough that Suline and those watching from their hideout in Nals could hear. “Our magic is completely blocked. If we needed to Transfer out of here, we’d be trapped.” Once again they were thankful for the unique capability of the Ghost Doorway. They could escape via the portal it provided without requiring access to their magic.
“I’ll bet it isn’t blocked for them,” Nycoh said. “Remember that Hyndl had his shield in place. That suggests he has access to magic.” She had felt the loss of her personal barrier as they had stepped into the room.
“Obviously, we can’t hope to use magic for an attack here,” Rigo said.
“See, we’ve already learned something we didn’t expect. I’ll wager any place we find them, it will be like this.”
“Tryll’s wasn’t,” Rigo reminded her.
“She didn’t see the need. They didn’t suspect what we could do then. I’ll bet it takes some effort to make it like this.”
When the Brryn didn’t suddenly appear to confront them, Rigo and Nycoh began to look around. Being here confirmed what they had seen through the Ghost Doorway. The place represented basic quarters, nothing fancy. Kytra hadn’t had time to return it to what it must have been at one time. When they headed toward the back rooms, they found another surprise.
“We can’t get in the back,” Rigo said. “Suline hasn’t been able to move the viewing Doorway back there because there is a secondary barrier in place. It’s dark enough we can’t see through.”
Rigo wondered if he had a wizard’s light if he could have illuminated the area enough to see what lay behind the shield.
“This is something new,” Nycoh said. “We’ve watched them walk back here as though nothing prevents their passage. These shields are tuned to them and they can simply pass. They don’t have to Transfer through them.”
A short time later they admitted there was nothing more to see. They knew what was outside having monitored that area extensively already, and they couldn’t get into the area they wanted to investigate. Reluctantly they returned to Nals where the others waited.
“I still think we need a plan that gets them both at the same time,” Rigo said.
It was later the same day, and they had brought Daria and Kaler to Nals to discuss the situation and brainstorm for ideas. As the others expected, Daria was in favor of a crossbow bolt through the Ghost Doorway to eliminate Kytra. Nycoh argued that the Brryn were more alert than Shym had been, and might be able to react quickly enough to shield herself. Daria reminded her that Suline could position the exit of the Ghost Doorway a hand’s width away. The arrow would be in her as soon as it arrived on the far side of the interface.
“That still leaves Hyndl alive and alerted,” Rigo reminded them. “He would be gone, and I hate to think of the retribution he would seek. It’s a last option, because it will reduce the number against us, but we need to see if there is another way. If only we could get them both to drop their shields while in the room.”
They discussed every option that they could think of, but none provided a means to get both of the Brryn. They couldn’t approach the Brryn with magic outside of the room, as they were simply too strong, and while the shot through the Doorway seemed to offer the best opportunity, Hyndl refused to be helpful and leave himself unprotected. It was getting late when one of Rosul’s informants brought them news that a likely location for Kytra’s hideout had been discovered.
“That’s interesting,” Rigo said when the messenger had left. “We know where Kytra has been staying since the beginning. She doesn’t need another hideout. What would she be doing in northern Sedfair?”
“It’s a trap,” Jeen said. “They don’t know we know where they are. They know we are looking for them, and they are letting us find them.”
“Let’s see what has been found,” Nycoh said. Perhaps we can make it work for us.”
Chapter 87
They were able to “establish” that both Hyndl and Kytra appeared to be living in the remote mountain house. It was easy to spy upon from several well-positioned locations. None of the monitoring spots would be defensible, but they did afford an un-compromised view. It would have been reasonable if it weren’t for what the wizards knew to be the truth.
“Jeen’s right, it’s a trap,” Nycoh said.
Rigo and Nycoh, as well as Daria and Kaler, had come to check the situation out.
“They can’t lead us here,” Rigo said. “We’d be suspicious, especially after the way we led Hyndl.”
“But if we know where the place is, then this is where we would wait for them,” Nycoh added. “We could attempt to set a t
rap, and they would really be trying to trap us.”
“Suppose we spotted either Kytra or Hyndl,” Rigo surmised. “They pretend to realize they have been spotted. Where would we think they Transferred to, assuming this is the only hideout we knew of? More than likely we would guess here.”
“Then we show up with our assault team, having already scouted the place and established where we would dig in,” Nycoh added.
They looked around. The country home was well situated. It commanded a great view of the valley beyond. It was open and exposed. Surrounding the house were any number of great spots to set up protected attack points. Massive stone boulders and protected hills looked very promising.
Daria scanned the area with a critical eye. She was considering that Kytra and Hyndl had chosen this place and wanted them to launch an attack here. It didn’t take her long to see the flaws.
“It’s not as good as it looks,” she said. “Knowing in advance you are going to be attacked, it’s easy to guess where your enemy would position himself. Unlike the mine you told me about, the Brryn could have arranged for preplanned destruction of the key assault locations. Any group expecting to be protected, would suddenly find themselves exposed.”
“Good,” Rigo said.
“Good?” Kaler asked.
Rigo nodded. “That supports what I hoped. The Brryn want a fight here. If they hadn’t chosen a place where they could supposedly turn the tables on us, I would have wondered. They can always simply flee by Transferring away. What Daria points out shows they want to stay and fight. They believe they are far superior in strength, and don’t need to worry.”
“They appear to be correct on that score,” Kaler said.
Rigo shot him a sharp glance.
“I’ll bet we are to spot either Hyndl or Kytra, and make a move against him or her,” Rigo said, continuing his thoughts. “They are probably certain we want to take them on singly given what we have learned about their strength. I’d wager they believe we think they cannot signal one another, again based on the encounter with Hyndl. Nycoh’s right, they most likely have done something about that.”
