Fire Within: Book Two of Fire and Stone (Stories of Fire and Stone 2)

by Stephanie Beavers

  “Indeed. The good news is, we can still destroy it; we just have to go after the foci, the physical components of the spell. Now, I imagine he’s changed the foci since I built the first Greymaker for him,” Erizen said. “Crystals of some kind work best as foci; I normally use topaz—it’s relatively inexpensive and therefore not targeted by folks who just want something shiny to make a profit. The foci need to be laid out in a particular pattern. It actually complements the spell-structure, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be easy to find them. There are two ways to protect the foci—hide them, or guard them.”

  “I imagine Moloch will use a combination of both—some hidden, some guarded, with both done well,” Toman remarked.

  “Likely,” Erizen agreed. “Now, there are key foci and supporting foci. Probably half a dozen of the former and a couple dozen of the latter. Technically, if we took out enough supporting foci, the whole thing would collapse, but I imagine Moloch built his like mine, where there are so many redundancies that such an approach would take a ridiculous amount of time and effort to find them all. No, we’re better to go after the key ones, for all that they’re bound to be better hidden and guarded. If we take out a few foci and one or two supporting ones nearby, we should destabilize the Greymaker enough for it to go down.”

  “Should?” Toman asked.

  “Assuming Moloch hasn’t made any changes to my designs. He understands the theory now, you know, and he’s a brilliant mage. He could have made any number of changes. He could have made changes that make the power output larger but leave the Greymaker less stable. Or he could’ve changed it so it’s more stable. I don’t know. I’ll know more when I see one of the foci, I imagine,” Erizen replied.

  “Great,” Esset muttered.

  “How do we find the foci?” Tseka wanted to know.

  “Well, finding the first one is going to take luck and persistence,” Erizen replied offhandedly. “After that, I can make educated guesses on where the others will be, based on the location of the first one we find.”

  “And then how do we take out these foci?” Tseka asked.

  “Any number of ways. Your creatures could blow it up,” Erizen gestured at Esset. “Or we could simply remove it, although that has its risks. I could also set up a spell to try to destabilize the Greymaker earlier, and further, although that has risks as well,” Erizen finished.

  “What are the benefits of these riskier ones?” Toman asked.

  “Well, simply destroying some foci is only less risky for the first couple foci,” Erizen replied. “It would be extremely risky for the final foci to be destroyed, since the Greymaker could collapse violently.

  “The risk of removing the foci is that the spell could realign to some other structure with unforeseen consequences—I can’t even begin to guess, but trust me, it’s possible. The gain is a very valuable artifact—tuning a crystal for magic is difficult and tedious, and ones modified by masters are valuable.

  “The gain for using a spell to destabilize the Greymaker is that we could possibly go on for a while without Moloch even knowing that the Greymaker is being tampered with. We could also, theoretically, direct any eventual backlash at him, or even steal the fruits of the Greymaker. The risk comes if Moloch discovers the tampering through error or chance—it would be easy for him to undo, and all our hard work would be for nothing. We’d have to start over.”

  “How likely is he to discover any changes?” Tseka asked. Erizen shrugged.

  “Impossible to say—at least without having had a single look at his Greymaker,” Erizen replied. Esset frowned—he didn’t like the sound of the last option. The risks were too great.

  “Can you draw out this spell structure you keep talking about?” Tseka asked.

  “None of you are mages. I don’t see how that could help,” Erizen replied.

  “Humor me,” Tseka said.

  “How tedious. The structure can also vary, as I said, but I’ll outline the basic one. Pass me that blank scroll.” Erizen began sketching as Tseka watched.

  “That looks familiar,” she said, to everyone’s surprise.

  “Unlikely,” Erizen responded, finishing the sketch.

  “Esset, look at this,” Tseka said, pushing the document across the table towards him. He reached out and pulled it closer. He was surprised to find that she was right.

  “This—Tseka, this looks familiar because it looks an awful lot like Jionar Atah’s drawings of the spell-structure of a geas,” Esset said.

  “A geas?” Toman said disbelievingly, looking at Erizen, who shrugged.

  “They do work on similar principles,” Erizen confirmed. “Although they’re far from identical. Who’s this Atah?”

  “A scholar… He found ways to undo magic without actually using magic,” Esset replied distractedly.

  “Impossible,” Erizen replied, forcing Esset to pay attention for a moment.

  “Well, without having the ability to use magic,” Esset amended. “It was how we got the geas off Toman.”

  “Really?” Now Erizen looked intrigued.

  “Yeah. Atah thought all magic was evil, so he used mundane things to manipulate the natural energies of the world to undo magic. He created a lot of strange devices to do it, most of which were never recovered, so some of his work seems like nonsense. But his work did enable us to undo a geas with only the help of an elementalist and some salt by using a particular counter pattern,” Esset explained.

  “Which should be impossible. Fascinating. Do you have these works here?” Erizen asked, actually showing eagerness. Esset was surprised by his enthusiasm, and for once, it was a pleasant surprise.

  “All I have is a page from his work that I copied so we could break the geas. The rest is in Sedina. Do you think it will help us here?” Esset asked.

  “I would have to see the scrolls for myself to know. And I’d still need to see the Greymaker,” Erizen replied. He seemed to have reined in his enthusiasm and hidden it away, which Esset thought was a pity.

  “I’ll send a message to Andarus—he’s the Head Librarian in Sedina’s royal library—and get him to copy the scrolls for us,” Toman suggested. “That way we can keep looking for the foci without interruption. Hopefully we’ll have found the first foci by the time the scrolls arrive.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Give it to me to sign before you send it though. Andarus has always had a soft spot for me and my father,” Esset said.

  “True. Now: the Greymaker. Where do we start looking for the first foci?” Toman asked Erizen, tapping the map. Now the guesswork began.

  A week later, Toman burst into Esset’s room. Esset tossed his book aside without a second thought at the look on his brother’s face.

  “You got something?” Esset asked eagerly.

  “Might be nothing. Might be something,” Toman said. Esset didn’t need further prompting.

  “Thank Hyrishal, let’s go check it out,” Esset replied.

  “We just have to tell Tseka and Erizen,” Toman said, grinning.

  Esset pulled a face at Erizen’s name. “Well, hopefully, since you’re the first to find something, Erizen will shut up about deserving compensation for all his ‘hard work.’”

  “He has been whining a lot, hasn’t he?” Toman asked. Esset pulled another face.

  “Almost non-stop. I’m about ready to kill him for some peace and quiet.” Esset growled. “There was a brief reprieve when Jionar Atah’s scrolls showed up, but even that was too short-lived.”

  They found Tseka in her room, cleaning her already glistening spear. Esset stuck his head in her door.

  “We may have found a focus,” he said with a smile.

  “Let’s go.” Tseka was beside him in an instant, spear in hand, cleaning rag lying forgotten on the floor. Toman blinked at her alacrity.

  “You may have been busy,” Tseka said to Toman, looking him in the eye when he didn’t move right away. “But Esset and I have been frustratingly idle. Let’s go.”

&n
bsp; “Er, yes.” Toman quickly led the way to Erizen’s study.

  Despite Esset’s complaints about Erizen’s complaints, Erizen had been working hard, and he was in the middle of a scrying spell when they opened the door to his study. At least Esset assumed that’s what he was doing; Esset knew not all magic was as flashy as his own. Erizen was sitting up straight and his eyes were closed as he held one hand over a map.

  “Erizen?” Toman said quietly.

  “I may make this look easy, but I assure you, it is not. I hope there’s a reason for this interruption,” Erizen said smoothly, without moving or opening his eyes.

  “I may have located a focus,” Toman replied. There was a moment of silence before Erizen lowered his hand and opened his eyes.

  “Excellent. Shall we investigate?” the mage asked calmly, but his smile was actually genuine. It seemed that, for once, they all agreed on something.

  “You mentioned that your creations can’t speak and aren’t all that intelligent; how sure are you that you’ve got something?” Erizen asked as they left the room and headed for the courtyard.

  Toman responded to the intended slight calmly and smoothly. “As sure as I can be. My creations might not always be the most reliable of scouts, but with such a massive area to cover, they’re a reasonable option, especially since they can be very discreet.” Unlike Esset’s summons or some of Erizen’s “louder” spells, which could be detected. “And, evidently, an effective one compared to other tactics we’re trying.”

  Erizen frowned. “If they have, indeed, found something.”

  Toman smiled. “Of course.”

  They reached the courtyard and Esset flew them swiftly to their destination. They hid on a nearby hillside to spy on their target.

  “That’s an abandoned farm house,” Esset said.

  “Yes, thank you for that stunning analysis,” Erizen responded. Esset glared at him and was studiously ignored.

  “It makes sense,” Tseka added, ignoring Erizen’s comment. “Who would look in an abandoned farm house?”

  “Don’t bandits and the like take up residence in them? I’d think Moloch would pick a place where there wouldn’t be a risk of something this important being stumbled across,” Esset replied.

  “This is Moloch we’re talking about,” Toman replied. “No bandit dares to roam his lands. He has a reputation for capturing them and torturing them or using them in experiments or both. The only crimes in Moloch’s lands are committed by Moloch himself or by others on his orders. It would take someone really dumb to break the law here, what with Moloch’s reputation.”

  “True,” Esset acknowledged. “So what’s our plan?”

  “I need to get a close look at the foci,” Erizen said. “But I imagine Moloch would have left magical protections on and around it.”

  “How did you find it?” Esset asked Toman, who shrugged.

  “Suspicious conditions,” Toman replied. “This is an unoccupied area that’s well kept, and my creature saw something shiny inside. My creations also seem to pick up something of magic, because when I tell them to look for it, they seem to know. Don’t know how though.”

  “Well, it’s worth investigating,” Esset said with a shrug back.

  “I’ll lead the way. If I give an order, follow it,” Erizen said. Esset scowled, but Erizen was already moving, not giving them a chance to object. They all followed; they knew that he’d be the first to detect anything magical, so it actually made sense.

  They skirted some trees as they made their way to the farmhouse, trying to keep out of sight as much as possible. Esset was sure something would intercept them on the way to the silent building, but they reached the door unscathed. Erizen paused at the door, and Esset could only assume that he was checking for magic; since the mage’s hand went to the doorknob, Esset assumed he hadn’t sensed any. Erizen stepped inside.

  “Shield!” he said sharply, and both he and Tseka threw their magical barriers up just in time. Electrical energy rolled over the shields with a series of vicious snaps. The second the energy was gone, Erizen strode forward with a purpose.

  “Count down from a hundred,” he ordered.

  “What—” Esset began.

  “Aloud!” Erizen demanded. Esset narrowed his eyes at him, but obeyed.

  “Ninety-nine, ninety-eight…” He could only assume they were on a timer.

  Toman stepped back out the door to keep a look out for anyone incoming while Erizen stepped further in. The only thing in the main room of the farmhouse was a plain table with a stone cube sitting atop it. Runes and sigils were carved into the stone and a crystal was embedded into the top.

  “Smart design,” Erizen murmured, circling the table but not touching anything. Esset continued counting aloud and Tseka surveyed the rest of the house, but came up with nothing.

  “Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen…”

  “Okay, let’s go,” Erizen said, gesturing towards the door. Given that they were fairly sure someone would come investigate the disturbance, they were all agreeable to the suggestions. They headed outside and Esset summoned one of his massive smoky birds to carry them away.

  “So what was that all about?” Esset demanded when they were back at the castle.

  “Simple,” Erizen drawled, no doubt purposely trying to tweak Esset’s ire. “It takes roughly the count of a hundred to locate the source of an alarm spell like that and cast either a scrying spell or a transportation spell to investigate. I wanted to use what little time I had effectively so we could get out in time.”

  “Great. So Moloch knows we were there?” Esset asked.

  “Not exactly. Occasionally spells such as that will go off accidentally, and we got out of there quickly enough that he could not have seen us to know who set it off, if anyone,” Erizen replied calmly.

  “Being Moloch, I doubt he’ll think it was nothing,” Esset replied.

  “But there’s a difference between suspecting and knowing,” Erizen added condescendingly. Esset gritted his teeth.

  “I still say we should just blow them up. I hope you at least found out something worthwhile,” Esset muttered.

  “Of course. I couldn’t determine the exact structure of the spell, but I could see that it wasn’t drastically different from the model I first taught Moloch. That means I can narrow our search for the next focus, and we can decide on a plan of action from there.” Erizen studiously straightened his cuffs before looking at them. “However, I suggest we lie low for a couple days to lessen the risk of detection.”

  “Darkfire take it,” Toman cursed. He wanted Moloch dead, but he was wise enough now to know that patience was both a weapon and a powerful defense against Moloch. Impatience would get them killed. Of course, that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it.

  “Well I’m not wasting my time. If you need me for anything, I’ll be working on my army,” Toman said. Half of what he made he sent after Moloch immediately—there was no reason for that to stop now—and the other half he was saving for use at a later date. If it came to all-out war, he wanted as many tools at his disposal as possible.

  Esset watched his brother’s back depart for a moment then shook his head, feeling useless; he wished there were more he could do to prepare, but his skills were more useful in the vicinity of immediate conflict, not future conflict. Toman was strongest with the most time to prepare; Esset could react instantly and powerfully to surprises. All Esset could do with extra time was think, plan, and read his tome, which was exactly what he intended to do. Without a word, he turned around and left.

  “Hey!” Erizen objected. Esset just lifted a hand in a little flick of a wave without looking back. Erizen shot a dark look at Esset’s back.

  “No appreciation for my genius around here.”

  Two days later, Esset was passing time reading his tome in the library; a normal enough occurrence for him, which was no doubt how Erizen found him so easily.

  “Okay, time for you to pay me back for all my help. Get up, we�
�re getting your brother, and going.” Erizen had entered the library with an imperious air that didn’t impress Esset at all.

  “Funny, I was under the impression your work with us wasn’t a favor, but part of the process of saving your obnoxious butt as well,” Esset retorted.

  “Come,” Erizen simply ordered him; the mage didn’t stop to see if he’d obey, but simply turned and walked back out of the library. Esset ground his teeth together, then snapped his tome shut and jumped up, hurrying to catch up as he stuffed his tome in his side-bag. He knew Erizen would be going to bother Toman next, and Toman would be really mad if this trying narcissist interrupted him for nothing.

  “Hey!” Esset yelled after Erizen as he skidded into the hallway.

  “Oh good, you’re coming,” Erizen remarked as if it were no surprise at all.

  “What’s this all about?” Esset demanded, trying to get in front of Erizen and stop him. Erizen simply stepped around him to continue down the hall.

  “Something has come to my attention and it requires an immediate response. You are going to assist me,” Erizen said.

  “That’s not an explanation,” Esset snapped, but Erizen studiously ignored him and kept heading down the hall.

  “Hey!” Esset finally darted in front of the mage and blocked his way down the passage. Erizen stopped and narrowed his grey eyes.

  “Did I mention that this was time sensitive?” The mage stepped forward and shoved Esset out of the way with his shoulder. Esset took a second to reign in his temper and stop himself from injuring Erizen in some satisfying fashion. Then he had to catch up to Erizen again.

  The arrogant mage was already at the bottom of the stairs, and he was exiting the grand hall into the courtyard before Esset caught up to him again. Tseka had heard them and poked her head out the door behind them. Her grin suggested that she thought this would be fun to watch, and she gleefully began to follow them.

  “Is that seriously all you’re going to tell me?” Esset snapped at the mage. He was studiously ignored once more.

  “Hey!” The objection again garnered no response, and they were now beyond the confines of the walls, where Toman sat, creating a new animated stone bird. Toman glanced up at Esset’s exclamation, and the glimpse gave him all the information he needed.