On one bookcase, at chest height, sat the unusual hollow device made of gold, silver, and numerous gems known as Argos’s Artifact. The filigreed golden lace of the large egg looked like a creeping vine. However, the normally white ball held in the center of the artifact glowed yellow. It wasn’t bright; more like a candle, except it did not flicker.
“What is this place?”
“Ah, this is the private Magi lounge. Every Guildhouse has one. This is where the Magi come to relax and avoid students. Many like to read here, while others, so long as they don’t snore too loudly, take short naps or just rest and think. Very few Journeymen get to see this room.”
Lebuin stepped over to the artifact. The closer he got, the more he could feel warmth coming from it. Not heat, but comforting.
“How much do you know, Councilor?”
Nillo stepped over and rested his hand on Lebuin’s shoulder. The weight of that hand was as welcome and comforting as the room.
“I won’t claim to know everything. But I know what you have become, who Illa is, and that far more than is fair has been placed on your shoulders.”
Nillo’s voice was softer than normal and, looking back, he saw that Nillo’s eyes were filled with tears. He turned and looked up at Nillo.
He has been a second father to me all these years. He knew what was being done and some of why.
A flash of inspiration hit and he knew where the special books had come from. “You gave me those books.”
Nillo’s face softened. “Cune was the nemesis to distract you. Some of us were your friends to support you. We had to pretend to not see or know. Argos forgive me, I loved you as my own. But I pushed Cune to hit you harder and harder. And yes, I gave you all those books. Even a useless dandy can still have a store of knowledge. Yes?”
His throat tightened and he couldn’t breathe. Eyes blurring with tears, for reasons he couldn’t understand, he grabbed the huge man in a tight hug.
“At times I thought no one cared, and I hid in my room crying. Then those notes would come, and I knew someone cared.”
Nillo gasped and hugged Lebuin. “Lebuin, we all cared. We all knew what we were doing. We just didn’t know why.”
They stood like that briefly before Lebuin released Nillo and wiped his face. Nillo was busy wiping his own eyes when Lebuin looked up to him.
“Thank you. Later, I can explain more, and even some things that will make much of this clear.”
He reached out and touched the artifact. It felt warm. I expected it to be cold, like a piece of jewelry.
Concentrating, he called on his powers and cast the incantation to establish the link with the artifact. As he completed the incantation, he shifted to mage sight and a tendril reached out of the artifact lightly touching his hand. There was a tingling sensation from its touch. Then the tendril extended, sliding up his arm, coming up his shoulder to his throat. There, the tingling became more intense.
In his mind, he heard a voice. ‘Argos line confirmed. Provide access key.’
His heart raced. Nothing said this thing could talk to me.
‘Incorrect access key.’
He recalled the access key his grandfather had provided. ‘Nos obligat pro populo nostro, et pro omni tempore familiam sum Argos.’
‘Access accepted.’
A thin golden thread played out from the artifact, followed by another tendril, both piercing his abdomen painfully. Lights fluttered around him, and the room bloomed as dozens of colors exploded in his vision. Magic flowed through him with such force, his power channels burned. He would have screamed, but his muscles were locked solid and unresponsive. His vision sharpened, and he saw motes of magic flowing around and through the world. Dozens of clouds of magic orbited the artifact in a whirlpool of mana.
The universe became only Lebuin and the artifact. Its tendrils penetrated his flesh as if it was smoke. But they did touch his magic channels like they were soft metal. The golden thread spun out longer and longer, like a spider’s web. The tendrils moved quickly, yet it felt like an eternity of agony. Some of his channels were torn out, while others were added or altered to connect in different patterns. The golden thread from the artifact was grafted into his existing magic channels and used to lay new ones.
Without any warning, he snapped back to the real world and the pain receded to a tender burning. He started to collapse. Nillo caught him and lifted him like a child, placing him in a chair. Nillo kneeled before him, holding Lebuin’s head in his hands and looking him in the eye.
“Lebuin, breathe, you need to breathe. Hurry, before you pass out.”
I’m not breathing?
His muscles were his again, and Nillo was right. Nothing was moving. Concentrating, he forced his lungs to fill. That started many sensations as his body resumed its normal rhythms. With the flow of blood and oxygen, he felt a heaviness lift from his limbs and his body tingled as a leg would if sat on for too long. It was a dizzying moment, which soon passed.
Nillo nodded. “Stay here, don’t move.” He then left.
He felt Illa’s mind calling out for help. He shifted to her. She was lying on the floor, and Nigan was shouting something with a desperate look in his eyes, but her hearing wasn’t working.
‘Oh, Illa, I am sorry. I didn’t know this affected you, too! Here, let me help. You need to concentrate to start your body again.’
Lebuin forced his way into her mind and helped her get her lungs moving again. The painful tingling was more intense for Illa, as she had been frozen longer than Lebuin had.
As her blood flowed, he felt her love for him warm his spirit. ‘Thank you, my Lord.’
‘Argos warned me about this.’
Illa forced her hand, in spite of the tingling, to lift to Nigan’s head. She pulled on his hair to get his attention. Nigan looked back down into her eyes. She nodded, and he sighed, his face relaxing, but his forehead remained creased.
‘You two are becoming one-minded.’
‘Yes, my Lord, I know. Do you wish me to spurn him?’
Lebuin could feel her growing love for Nigan. ‘No, I would never deny anyone love. Be careful. You will outlive him.’
Illa’s feelings came through. She was grateful for Lebuin’s concern. ‘My Lord, none of us may survive what is coming. A moment of joy is a priceless gift to cherish.’
Lebuin’s heart swelled with pride for Illa. ‘You sound more like a high priestess every day.’
‘Thank you, my Lord. But if I might ask, what of you? Do you not have feelings for Ticca?’
Before he could stop it, some of his desires for Ticca escaped to Illa, making any attempt at denial useless. ‘I do, but she considers me more a brother. I’ll consider your advice.’
Lebuin withdrew back to himself, letting his head lean back in the chair, and closed his eyes.
That was not what I expected. There is a kind of intelligence in that artifact. It has some safeguards. What did it do to us?
He began taking inventory. Some of the magical channels he had built as a student were gone, and many new channels had appeared. A set of channels extended to the end of each finger and toe. New channels, which seemed to have no purpose at all, connected together with his mind like rivers flowing out from a lake.
Someone was squeezing his shoulders.
I don’t remember falling asleep.
When he opened his eyes, Nillo was standing there, holding a glass of red liquid. The glass looked familiar, and then he recalled it was the glass Nillo had given him some sharre in.
Oh, yes! Some of that old sharre you have would be wonderful right now.
A new set of tingling sensations vibrated down the new channels in his fingers as he took the glass.
Am I sensitive to magic now with these new channels?
He brought the glass to his lips and drank the fiery liquid. The pleasant burning spread through him, healing him as it moved through his system. His body tingled with the renewed energy as aches eased and then vanished.
<
br /> His mind cleared under the restorative powers of the old sharre. “Oh, am I glad you had that!”
Nillo nodded. “Some panicked students and servants ran me down to tell me Illa had collapsed in the dining hall. I looked in and saw she was recovering, so I sent another glass to her. I presume what I saw happening to you affected her, too. Are you okay?”
Lebuin nodded. “Yes, I am okay. Thank you for taking care of us both. I am different now. But I am pretty sure it is a good thing.”
Nillo laughed. “I did say you were going to do many surprising things.”
Lebuin joined his laughter. “Yes, you did. It seems you can add prophet to your long list of titles.”
Feeling restored, Lebuin stood and tested his connection to the artifact. There was power, but it wasn’t a massive store of power yet. However, there was more than he had when the fight in Algan started.
He looked at Nillo. “Please tell all who are donating magic that Argos is grateful.”
“I have, and I will again. Now, what?”
He rubbed his hands together and slapped Nillo on the shoulder. “Now, we try to capture that Nhia-Samri spy in Councilor Crawstu’s class.”
Nillo looked at him, shocked. “What do you mean?”
“Finnba was a Nhia-Samri spy, and he nearly killed all of us in Algan. He had a necklace which fed him an enormous amount of power from a Nhia-Samri magic source. I believe I saw one on Lord Elan’s neck. I need to get close enough to verify it. If he is a spy, he will be more powerful than you can believe. We will need all of the Magi here to contain and capture him.”
Nillo pointed at the artifact. “We have been feeding that thing nightly for weeks. Do you have enough to face him?”
Lebuin shook his head. “No. I don’t think so. I can withstand him, but the amount of power needed to stop him is more than I have now.”
Nillo nodded. “Okay, we’ll have to get him alone, and try to protect the other students.”
Lebuin thought about it. “How about an achievement award? Get all the Magi in the throne room, and then call him in there.”
Nillo laughed. “Yes, that would appeal to his nature.”
Nillo made arrangements to assemble the Magi while Lebuin filled his group in on what needed to be done before heading back to the Dolphin. Ditani volunteered to play the servant, to lead Lord Elan to the throne room. Nillo protested, but Lebuin convinced him it would be better than risking a Guild servant. By the time all the preparations were in order in the throne room, Ditani had found, and changed into, a servant’s uniform. Approaching the throne room, with Ditani dressed as a servant, felt like a complete replay of the beginning of his new life.
“Don’t follow him in. Make sure you close the door behind him, and then get away from it.”
Ditani patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about me. You just make sure to take care of yourself. You know Ticca will skin me alive if she finds out we did this without her and failed.”
“So long as we have the advantage of surprise, this should go easy enough.”
Ditani bowed him into the throne room, closing the doors behind him. Turning, he saw the fifty-odd assembled Magi that were judged fight-ready by Nillo. All of the councilors were there. As he walked up to them, the entire room bowed to him.
Butterflies fluttered in his stomach, and he cleared his throat. “Thank you, all. But I am just your Journeyman.”
Nillo straightened. “You will never again be only a Journeyman. You are doing more for us than almost any other Magus in history.”
He felt his face burn and his pride swelled, making him feel taller. “Thank you. Now, are we all clear? If we don’t knock him out, the most important thing is to keep the ablative shields up. If this turns into a full battle, he’ll have more power to control than you have ever witnessed.”
Lebuin moved off to the rear and behind a pillar, so he could step in behind Elan when he came in. The Magi arranged themselves as if for a formal ceremony, and then they waited. Everyone concentrated on his or her own powers, preparing incantations to both attack and defend.
Breathe, remember to breathe.
Lebuin measured his powers and prepared his shields.
This time, I won’t be dumping raw power around. I can maintain layers easier and with less power. The effect will allow me better defenses.
He also prepared a series of pounding attacks. As he waited, he examined the other Magi, surprised to see he was able to sense who was tied into which mana line. To help pass the time, he took inventory. The Magi had divided up and agreed to which of them would tap into each mana line. If too much power was pulled from a line, it could rupture like a dam breaking, and the results would be dangerous for everyone. With fifty Magi in a fight for their lives, it was possible they could over-extend a mana line. Of course, Llino being set on top of three air lines, a massive water line, two more ground lines, and deep below, a massive fire line, there would be a lot of power available.
Thank the Lords and Ladies, we aren’t trying this in Algan. I don’t think the few lines there would be enough to hold against the power Elan will have.
The doors opened and Ditani’s voice rang out, “Lords, I present Lord Elan of Cawli, Apprentice of the Guild of Argos, and recipient of the Outstanding Achievement in Testing Performance Award.”
Lord Elan stepped in, wearing fine white silk pants, tucked into tall shiny riding boots. A medium brown leather belt held a carved, ivory sheath knife with gold chains. The tunic he wore was a deep crimson silk that glistened as he moved. Lord Elan walked past him without looking to the side. Ditani closed the doors. Lord Elan proudly strode up to stand in front of the councilors and bowed.
Nillo’s voice boomed out, “Lord Elan, your teachers have been most impressed with your performance.”
As Nillo started into the fake speech, Lebuin stepped out to block the exit. His shields extended to cover the doors. He nodded, and the three Magi experts in mind magic spun their incantations to knock Elan out.
A burst of white light from Elan’s chest caused all the councilors to raise their hands defensively. Elan spun, throwing his hands out wide, as lightning arced from him to strike the three attacking Magi. They were shielded by others, as well as themselves. Slivers of power flew in all directions as three or four shields fell to the power of the attack.
Elan spun, shouting. “How did you know who I was?” As he turned, he spotted Lebuin. “That whelp of a Journeyman again? Is it you?”
Dozens of attacks rained down on Elan from all sides, but none penetrated his shields. Lebuin could tell many of those attacks had not been at full strength.
Don’t hold back just because he is a child!
Elan started walking towards Lebuin, ignoring the explosions of power around him. “Who are you? How were we wrong?”
Without knowing how, he realized Elan was communicating with someone. He looked and found the channels of magic Elan was using.
“No, you’re a pompous fool.” Elan smirked and cast another incantation and a ball of mana seared the air, smashing Lebuin’s shields to nothing. The remaining force slammed Lebuin into the doors. It wasn’t very strong, by that point. He recovered and restored the shields.
All right, gloves are off.
Reaching for the well of power in the magic collector, Lebuin enjoyed feeling the significant level of power he had available. There were forty Magi in the lounge sending as much magic to it as possible, monitoring the battle and mana lines.
This is going to be different from Algan. I won’t let you win this one, or warn anyone, either.
Using the knowledge from the forbidden books, he altered the attack incantations to be far more efficient. Pushing away from the door, he raised his hands and started the first series of attacks. The bright stream of fire balls pounded on Elan’s shields.
Elan stopped and stared at the stream of fireballs. “You can’t be serious.” Elan laughed, pointing at the attack.
Lebuin smile
d and shrugged. “Well, if one isn’t enough…” He then added another, and another, each one different. Elan stopped laughing as the fourth stream was added. The other Magi followed Lebuin’s lead and shifted to streaming attacks.
Elan looked around as his shield shrank smaller under the pounding.
While he was distracted, Lebuin examined Elan’s connections. There was the familiar one to the power source. But this time, another one stretched off into the distance.
That is the one I need to end before too much is exposed. Nillo, I need him to take credit.
He looked at Nillo, who was watching him.
Please understand this.
Lebuin made a series of grandiose gestures at Elan, releasing another attack, and then looked at Nillo.
Nillo nodded and his voice rang out, “Elan! You came here under false pretenses! You shall regret that!”
Elan spun, facing Nillo. “You, old fool. You have no idea! Your Guild is useless and easily fooled.”
Elan sneered as he unleashed two streams of raw power at Nillo, his necklace glowing. Nillo’s shields fell under the onslaught of power. Other Magi jumped in, adding more shields. Many of the Magi were sweating, their jaws set, standing solidly as they fought. However, a number were glancing around, their foreheads wrinkled.
They are getting scared. Good. I don’t think they took this threat seriously. Now, while he is distracted...
Lebuin reached out and felt the connection. He formed a shield through it and tried to adjust it to reflect the communications link. Nillo and Elan were exchanging insults and attacks. Many of the Magi were getting tired.
The communication link was resilient, and Lebuin started sweating as he tried to break it. Come on, break, already.
The link shattered, and Elan looked around, enraged, yelling, “Why would you care?”
With Elan cut off, Lebuin added more streams of attacks. “Like Finnba, you will never know. Really, it is the Nhia-Samri that are the fools.”
Elan spun on Lebuin, his face red. “You dare!”
Thread Strands (Golden Threads Trilogy) Page 33
