by Langland, J.
Chapter 52
Arch-Vicar General Barabus looked back over his shoulder into the room he'd just exited. The room shone brightly with the early morning sunlight. In the center of the room, at a plain oak table sat the High Priest Verigas. The man had just finished recanting a rather fabulous tale to Barabus and his associate, the Arch-Diocate Iskerus. Barabus shut the door behind him.
"Well, do you believe him?" Barabus asked the other as they stood in the narrow marble corridor outside the interview room.
The Arch-Diocate grimaced. "Unfortunately, I don't have much choice. I did a Test of Truth upon him the entire time. He, at least, believes he is telling the truth."
Barabus nodded solemnly in agreement, "I did the same."
Somewhat sadly the Arch-Diocate went on, "Further, it also seems coincident with the Visions this brother Ferenas in Halfenfork reported."
"The major war coming upon us? You read those reports too?"
The Arch-Diocate simply nodded sourly. "I hate living in such amusing times, Lord Barabus. Don't you?"
"I could certainly do with a bit of retirement, if that's what you mean." The 63-year old Arch-Vicar General looked longingly up at the ceiling. "Such it appears, is not the will of our Master."
"So, you are our resident military expert, Barabus, what do you suggest?"
The Arch-Vicar General paused for a moment, looking down at his feet. He sighed heavily. "I suppose we have no choice. One of our own brought this about; we must correct it."
"Incidentally," Iskerus interjected, "Verigas will have to answer for this demon summoning business, Archaedemon aside."
"Of course, of course," Barabus agreed, "but I feel part of his restitution should come in helping to clean up the mess."
"Naturally," Iskerus agreed.
"I will summon the Rod. I believe I can have the legions ready to sail for Freehold within a day. Short notice as it is, but we do pride ourselves on being ever vigilant." Barabus shook his head sadly as he spoke.
"Sir Talarius?"
Barabus closed his eyes. "I was afraid you'd mention him."
"I know you're not overly fond of the man, but he is Knight Rampant. The highest of our knighted cadre, and one of our few demon slayers."
"He has slain more than a few demons in his day," Barabus admitted. "I just can't say I approve of his attitude though."
"He is efficient at what he does."
"Yes," Barabus agreed morosely.
"You agree then?"
"Yes, I suppose we do need him. Although you did not hear that from me."
"Fine, then I'll arrange to have him notified."
"I suppose you'll have him meet us in Hoggensforth? He'll be bringing that horse of his." Barabus observed.
"That’s probably best. I shall send a message to Talarius. And arrange for the necessary replacement for Verigas while he is with you."
"Let the Rod be drawn."
"Let the Will be done."
"As Tiernon's fight is won." The last line was spoken in unison with upraised heads, as the two priests started to begin their preparations for a battle they must win.
Chapter 53
Maelen stared eastwardly across the sea. His Sight, as ever, was true. Normal eyes could now reveal the craft on the horizon. It was gaining rapidly. Extremely rapidly. He'd alerted the ship's master an hour ago. For once, a layman had taken him completely seriously with no question. The captain had obviously been expecting something similar.
Maelen cursed his luck to be on this ship. Luck, no, he cursed fate. He knew the only luck was that which he made for himself. Try as he might, his choices were constrained. His Sight limiting him in more ways than laymen could imagine. Perhaps fortunately, he wasn't truly a great Seer; that would be a curse.
He'd had trepidation as soon as he'd spotted the vessel in the harbor. Something definitely amiss about it. While there were multiple routes to his arranged meeting with this sorcerer Johen wanted him to speak with, he had, unfortunately, Seen himself in Hoggensforth in the very near future, and this ship was the only way to get there on schedule. He could have ignored the Seeing, but all the other possibilities his limited Sight revealed to him were much less appealing.
He'd overheard the captain talking about pirates to the other four passengers. Pirates was close, but not accurate. Perhaps, avenging police force might be a better word, or words. Captain Asmeth was a smuggler, Maelen was nearly positive. While as far as he could determine, Asmeth wasn't actually wanted in Gizzor Del, like anyone ever was, nor was he wanted in Hoggensforth; the man did have enemies.
The matter was not helped by the fact that Maelen could easily extend his eyesight and reveal the flag of Oorstemoth flying on the approaching vessel. Maelen had only been there once, long ago. The people had a rather overzealous attitude towards law and order. Not, as Maelen could see it, any logical law and order, but some strange code of their own. Violators were hunted down rather ruthlessly. Recidivism among criminals was nil. No defendants ever seemed to survive the judicial process. Maelen was also relatively certain that he, as a passenger on Asmeth's ship, would be considered an accomplice by Oorstemothian law. Thus, if he joined Asmeth at the bottom of the sea, so much the better.
Maelen glanced around the deck. His fellow passengers had apparently been hired to guard the ship in such an event as this. The young woman was pacing around in circles near the center of the middeck, she seemed to be biting her nails. Bad habit there, gave too much information away to casual observers.
The wizard Gastropé was peering at the Oorstemoth vessel through a telescoping device. He seemed rather calm, overall. The young boy, Rupert, was full of energy and excitement, peering over a stern rail at the approaching ship. Either the boy was so young he had no sense of the real danger, or he knew something about their chances that frankly escaped Maelen.
While Maelen had seen himself in Hoggensforth, there was no guarantee that he'd chosen the correct path to get there. He hadn't seen any other, but he may have missed it, and chosen a dead end path instead. He didn't feel, however, that he could afford the energy for another Seeing at the moment; he'd need it all too soon for healing. Also, he really wasn't sure he wanted to know at this point.
The fourth passenger, Tom or Edwyrd, whichever his name actually was, also seemed nervous. Or perhaps tense with dread might be the better phrase. The lad had been extremely tense the entire journey, and, in fact, avoided Maelen more than any other young animage in his position would have. Most students at that age, if that’s what Tom actually was, who were pursuing a liberal education, were doing so on their own and hence always on the lookout for someone who could teach them something.
This reticence, which he'd sensed immediately, had at first led him to suspect the boy. However, when he'd looked at Tom's aura, it had shown him so much power and life, that he'd nearly reversed his opinion completely. The young man was positively overflowing with it. Certainly not as well contained as one would expect from an animage with that much power, but so much life and magic that he had to be some form of Manipulator. The lad's aura didn't match any of the well-known patterns for wizards, nor did it seem to connect with the surroundings like a druid's aura. While there were no obvious links to any divine sources, such as a priest would have, there was some form of minute link running extra planar. If, as seemed the only possible answer, Tom/Edwyrd really was an animage, then he must have some knowledge of astramastery.
Again, however, the aura wasn't controlled like any animage with that much power would be. Certainly if someone that powerful was disguising themselves as a student, they'd also disguise their aura at the very least. Failing that, and no disguise, they'd simply be in better control of their essence. Truly puzzling, and that didn't even add in what he'd Seen when he shook the lad's hand.
It had been exactly as he'd described to Tom/Edwyrd last night. Wizards and demons all scheming around this innocent. Innocent? perhaps that was not the proper way to phrase it. Certainly this Tom wa
s less innocent than any of his compatriots, except perhaps for Gastropé, but even so, the image of a young man thrust out on his own, against his will, out of his normal environment and in over his head persisted in Maelen's mind. Another puzzle: while he'd seen a fundamental basis of good intent and a certain honor in the lad, he'd also seen blood and death. The reconciliation of all these images was not easy, Maelen had decided the lad was, at heart, 'good;' however, circumstances and fate might force his hand otherwise at times. Supervision, or at least observation, was called for. There was too much power here, to be left completely unobserved. If nothing else, others would try and use it.
Altruism aside, Maelen had also sensed a link between his own future, and Tom's. After leaving Tom/Edwyrd last night, he'd contacted Johen in Seren. He'd shared his Seeings, and Johen had concurred. Perhaps more disturbingly, Johen had hinted that he already knew something involving this group of travelers. Or at the very least knew something about demons and their involvement in upcoming events. The events in fact, that Johen wanted him to discuss with this sorcerer, Elrose. Maelen hadn't liked the sound of that, he'd Seen nothing that clear, and Johen had been reticent to reveal more until they were physically together.
Maelen broke his reverie as the pace of the crew increased to a slightly more frenzied level. The Oorstemoth ship was closing relatively quickly. Very soon it would be within ballista range. Maelen looked around again. The young wizard girl was busily sorting through some spell components, Gastropé simply rubbing his arms up and down. On the top of the stern castle, Rupert was pacing in circles, and Edwyrd/Tom was just looking rather seasick. Maelen cleared his mind, trying to prepare for the healing he knew he'd have to do soon.
Crack!
Maelen jumped. He hadn't expected that. The foremast was falling over! There had been a brilliant flash of light and then the loud crack. He quickly turned his vision to the Oorstemoth ship. Why hadn't he noticed before! There were two wizards on board. The weaker one was at least as powerful as their own two young wizards. The stronger one's aura glowed red-hot. pyromancer, Maelen thought. It was times like these he wished he'd studied more pyromastery. That man was definitely a match for their group.
Maelen's stomach fell a bit more. This choice of paths was not looking hospitable at all. He shook his head as crewmembers began clearing the debris of the fallen mast. The mast was only broken halfway up, even so it had to be cut free lest it help capsize the ship when the damage got more severe.
Crack!
Another bolt of lightning lanced between ships. This one however was apparently from Gastropé. It looked like Jenn was busily rattling off some form of protection spell.
Whoosh!
A ball of flame went scurrying across the deck. Maelen had to back up a little to avoid the trail of flames that swept along beside the ball. Fortunately the ball didn't hit directly and only lighted some incidental small fires on the deck. The crew rushed buckets of water to put these out. Other crewmembers were madly arming ballistae trying to fire on the other ship, but it was still too far.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack...Slam!
Another volley of lightning between the two ships was exchanged. The third crack belonging to the bolt that slammed into the main mast and split it. The mast, cracked at the base, began to tilt heavily to port, the ship rolling with it. The mast was broken enough to fall over, but by no means broken free of the ship.
Jenn ran up and quickly began doing something to the mast. Maelen couldn't tell what she was doing, but it seemed to require a lot of effort on her part. Maelen looked back to the other ship. So far they'd only faced the junior most wizard. The stronger one had simply sat back and absorbed the bolts that Gastropé was sending.
Crash...Crack...Boom!
The ship rocked violently. Maelen hadn't seen anything from the enemy, he glanced over his shoulder. Jenn was covered in wood chips, but the mast had broken free of the deck. She'd apparently caused the remaining mast connections to rot rapidly and come free. Currently she was levitating one end of the mast off the deck of the ship. The top end was in the water already. Jenn was keeping the mast from dragging the rest of the ship with it. Actually rather impressive, Maelen thought, that mast had to be extremely heavy.
Maelen noticed a sailor laying on the deck where he'd fallen from the mast. Maelen quickly ran over to see to the man. As he bent down and began scanning with his mind for injuries, he heard another series of lightning volleys.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
Whoosh!
Crack.
Whoosh! Boom!
Maelen couldn't spare much attention as he willed the sailor's broken skull to knit back together. He calmly rerouted blood to and from the wound and the head and brain as necessary. Despite this, he was pretty sure that Gastropé had just taken a fireball direct on the forecastle. From the corner of his eye he could see Jenn waving her arms trying to put out flames in that region. He had to stop the swelling in the man's brain, make a quick patch to a crack in the man's spinal cord. Accomplishing this, he was able to begin the hard part, repairing the damaged brain tissue.
A good thing he'd gotten there when he had, another moment and the sailor would have been dead. Maelen had always hated head wounds, in the seventy-five years he'd been healing, head wounds had been the most difficult. All that nerve tissue. Nervous tissue just didn't respond well to healing and regrowth. While he could have stopped with just eliminating the swelling, the damage had been sufficient to probably cause permanent mental impairment if not promptly repaired. Thus he had to take additional time. As he finished, and the sailor blinked, conscious again. Maelen stood and hurried over to the forecastle.
Zzzt...Zap...Crack!
Crack...Crack...Crack!
Gastropé was back in business. He got off a whole succession of quick bolts to the other ship. Maelen bent down over a badly burnt sailor. In less than a minute he had the burns stabilized and healing. He'd get the process going and head to the next one. At this point he didn't have time for full healing, three other sailors were down as well.
More bolts continued to rage back and forth, along with the occasional fireball. Jenn was busily putting out fires with her magic. Tom hadn't done much of anything except clear debris. As he finished the last of the sailors, Maelen glanced up to Gastropé who was looking at the end of his rope. He'd been going one on one with the other two wizards by and large. Actually the big wizard still hadn't attacked, just the lesser one.
Gastropé took a large breath, and twiddled his hands some more, suddenly from his hands sprung a long cone of brilliant light that sprung between the ships, hitting the weaker wizard directly. With that, Gastropé dropped to the deck, panting. His singed and smoking clothing causing him to cough from his own smoke. Jenn too was looking a bit bedraggled; the mast had apparently sapped her strength.
Things were not good, Maelen decided. He extended his vision a bit more to see what was happening on the enemy ship. The younger wizard, for so the weaker one was, had collapsed to the deck, but was not dead. The older wizard finally seemed to be taking an active role. "Jenn," Maelen shouted, "the stronger wizard is getting ready to cast something!"
Jenn looked at him blankly for a moment. "Stronger...wizard?" She closed her eyes and began mumbling something. Maelen returned his eyes to the other ship. As he did so, he saw a giant bolt of lightning almost majestically arc between the enemy ship and his own. Almost as if time had slowed, as it does in those moments when adrenaline starts pumping through one's system in large quantities, he watched it head for the forecastle.
The ship lurched forward suddenly, as Jenn's spell apparently tried to move the ship out of the way. Jenn collapsed, exhausted by the effort. At the same time-slowed instant, the bolt streaking across the water struck the ship on the stern castle. Maelen watching it, almost hypnotically, saw it strike one of the seemingly frail humans on the sterncastle.
Suddenly, time start
ed to speed up as Maelen realized it was Edwyrd that the bolt had hit! The young man's entire body arched as this incredibly protracted lightning bolt, with easily five times the electricity of the younger wizard's bolts released its energy into his body. The electrical discharge was immense, to say the least. The very air around Edwyrd seemed to glow. His body leaping into the air and crashing back on the far side of the deck. Maelen shook his head in sorrow. He'd seen wizard's lightning bolts like that before. The man was a true master of the art. No one unprotected could have survived that. Maelen wouldn't have enough left to heal by the time he got there.
Jenn saw this, even as she was collapsing. "Edwyrd! No!" she cried. Maelen began hurrying over to the body, even though there was nothing he could do. As he hurried over, he heard Jenn yelling at no one in particular, "What the everlasting goddess have we gotten into? That maniac wizard's got to be nearly as powerful as Trisfelt or Hortwell! Whoever heard of pirates with that kind of firepower?"
Even as he reached the main deck from the forecastle, he was doing a double take. Edwyrd was staggering to his feet. Maelen had to blink. The young man was totally naked, his clothes apparently disintegrated by the lightning. The startling thing however was what Maelen's enhanced eyesight could see, the lad wasn't even burned! He had literally seen the electrical discharge arcing all over the boy's body, yet not a burn on him!
As Edwyrd staggered to his feet, he snarled and began to rush to the railing closest to the enemy ship. Even as Edwyrd reached the railing, Maelen noted that the big wizard was preparing another spell. Edwyrd reached the railing and raised his right hand, making a fist and pointing it towards the wizard on the other ship. Maelen had halted in his tracks, amazed by what he'd seen.
However, any doubt about what he'd earlier seen when he'd Looked at Edwyrd vanished in a moment. Even as he watched he saw Edwyrd's naked body shimmer. Flames danced along the boy's body, running up and down his calves and thighs, spreading up and over his waist and chest. Along his arms and finally engulfing his head. For the first second, Maelen thought it was another spell of the enemy wizard, but then he realized that Edwyrd was not being consumed in the normal way.
