“Destroyed.”
“Your students?”
“We lost a couple. The rest are with the Restorers.”
“I am sorry to hear that.” Tyen frowned. With the Restorers? And the old man wants to join the Academy? “It’s more than that, isn’t it?”
Tarren nodded. “Yes, but Rielle will explain it better.”
“And I had best do so in private,” Rielle added, her voice low and grim.
Tyen gestured to the side entrance of the Grand Hall. “Then may I invite you to my office?”
Tarren’s eyebrows rose. “You have an office, do you?”
Rielle chuckled. “Oh, didn’t I tell you he was Director?”
“Yes.” The old man sighed with mock annoyance. “Many times.” He took a step in the direction Tyen had indicated. “Well then. Lead the way, Director.”
Rielle was silent as they walked, allowing Tarren to observe his surroundings. Empty but for a skeleton staff, the Academy wasn’t presenting itself in its best light, but the stillness of the place at night had always inspired Tyen. It seemed full of potential, waiting to be discovered. All it took to free the knowledge within it was the presence of people.
Vella was much the same, he realised. When not held and read, she was like the empty corridors of the Academy, waiting for the moment someone brought her to life. Vella is an Academy of sorts, he thought. One that can only be visited by a few people at a time at most – but with an information delivery service that presents answers as fast as you can ask questions.
Was it possible to combine the two somehow? If someone, or several someones, read everything in the library and attended all the lectures by all the teachers and professors while touching Vella, they could add the entire Academy’s knowledge to her. And if he, and probably many scribes to follow, wrote down everything she contained, then a great deal of knowledge could be added to the Academy.
The idea that Vella might benefit the Academy had once excited him greatly, but during the brief time she had been in the institution’s possession its members had only wanted to destroy her. Well, except for Kilraker. He wanted her for himself. Kilraker was dead and the Academy was different now. Though he could not say if his reforms would become permanent. Perhaps they would only remain as long as he stayed in charge. If they do stick, I might bequeath Vella to the school on my death. Though being ageless meant that this might not happen for a long time yet, he’d survived too many battles to think his death couldn’t possibly happen any time soon.
As he ushered his visitors into his office, Rielle caught his gaze.
“I hope you do not mind me bringing Tarren here,” she said. “I was very careful to ensure nobody followed us through the worlds, and Tarren was blindfolded for the entire journey.”
The old man was observing the room’s décor approvingly.
“Of course I don’t mind.” Tyen directed the pair to the set of chairs in the corner, away from his desk. “Thank you for taking the precaution.”
Tarren shrugged. “It was nothing. You’d have done the same for me.”
Tyen turned to Rielle as she settled into a chair. “It is good to have you back,” he said with feeling. “I’ve missed having someone to talk to who knows about the worlds.”
She smiled. “What of your students, or the Librarian?”
Tyen sat down. “My students are very busy, and… well, I can’t imagine having a chitchat with the Librarian. He was always so intimidating when I was a student here and I can’t quite shake off my nervousness around him.”
She chuckled. “You should talk to him more. He’s very interesting.”
He nodded. “I will when I have time. I barely get a chance to sleep even when things are going smoothly – which is not often.” He looked from her to Tarren. They looked as tired as he ought to feel, and he realised he was being a bad host.
“Are you in need of refreshments?”
Rielle looked at Tarren, who had frowned. “He means food and drink,” she told him in a low voice. “Not a bath.”
“I guessed as much,” the old man replied. “Have you noticed that Tyen slips into that odd formal way of speaking whenever he’s nervous or wants to impress someone?”
Her eyebrows rose. “Now that you mention it…”
Tyen crossed his arms. Tarren had not even explained what had brought him here and already he was teasing. “Are either of you thirsty? Or hungry? Or both?”
“No,” Tarren replied, shaking his head. Rielle shrugged in agreement. “We ate just before we left.”
“Unlike Baluka, Qall insists that all Restorer meetings are well catered,” Rielle added.
Qall? Unlike Baluka? Tyen lifted his eyebrows as he comprehended her meaning. “Qall has replaced Baluka as the leader of the Restorers?”
She smiled fondly. “Yes.”
“When did this happen?”
“About midway during my stay here,” she told him. “I was surprised, too. It makes sense, though. He is the most powerful sorcerer in the worlds.”
“And contains Valhan’s memories. Does Baluka know this?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“And he was willing to risk that the Raen might return through Qall? Or that he already has, and this is part of Valhan’s plan to regain control of the worlds?”
“Amazingly… yes. In fact, it was his idea that Qall take his place. As he said, if either of those things happen, he can’t prevent it, but the benefits of Qall replacing him outweigh the risks. Qall is powerful, smart and, thanks to Valhan’s memories, knows more about the worlds than anyone.”
Tyen shook his head and leaned back in his chair, his skin prickling with cold as he realised what this meant. “So Qall has become the Successor after all. Valhan’s plan succeeded, just not quite the way he wanted it to.”
“A better way than any of us could have planned.” Her mouth twitched into a crooked smile. “I thought you didn’t believe in Millennium’s Rule.”
“I don’t,” Tyen assured her. “But if anyone becomes the sole ruler of most worlds, they are the Raen’s successor. That’s terminology, not prophecy.”
Tarren chuckled. “That is true. But Qall becoming the Restorers’ leader is not what we came to tell you.” He looked at Rielle. “Go on. He’s clearly not reading my mind, and the tension is unbearable.”
She glanced at him, her smile fading, then turned back to Tyen. “This will be particularly distressing news for you, Tyen,” she warned.
He nodded to show he understood, and braced himself.
“The mechanical magic inventors from Liftre have banded together under a leader called Kettin,” she told him. “Between them and the forced assistance of imprisoned inventors, possibly including Zeke, they’re creating a vast machine army. It has destroyed numerous whole worlds, killing most of the people, taking all of the magic and stripping resources to make more machines.”
The chill Tyen had felt before was nothing to the ice that spread though his body now. A vast machine army. Whole worlds destroyed. All partly my fault, because I released knowledge of mechanical magic into the worlds.
“How?” he managed to say. “Machines hold and use very little magic, so how can they take all the magic of a world?”
“Through sheer numbers,” Rielle explained. “And with thousands upon thousands attacking at once, they are a danger to lone or small groups of sorcerers, too.”
Tyen thought of the bomb the Liftre sorcerers had left in his previous school. High numbers weren’t the only way a machine could be deadly. His gut clenched. Why? “Why are they doing this?”
Rielle sighed. “We don’t know. Other than killing off inventors who refuse to join them, they don’t appear to have a particular target. Qall thinks their aim is to sell or lease the army, or parts of it. Unfortunately, our scouts have had no success finding out more. I learned most of what we know while investigating a ruined world, but I had to cut my visit short when I discovered that Kettin had learned the location of Tarr
en’s school and sent sorcerers to destroy him and his students.”
“Fortunately, she arrived in time to save us,” Tarren injected, his expression becoming sad. “Well, most of us.”
She glanced at him. “It wasn’t all me. You wouldn’t have survived long enough to be rescued if you hadn’t thought of a clever way to hide yourselves.”
“It wasn’t that clever,” he retorted. “The moment the drug wore off they’d have found us.”
Tyen barely heard them. Anger and disgust filled him as he thought of what the Liftre inventors had done. “Who is Kettin?”
Rielle and Tarren exchanged glances. “We hoped you could tell us,” Rielle said.
“I’ve never heard of him – or her.”
“The sorcerers whose minds I’ve read believe Kettin is a man.” Rielle frowned down at the table. Her gaze held a particular intensity Tyen had only seen once or twice before. His most vivid memory of it had been at the battle with Dahli. She had burned with determination, even at the end when the Restorers had lost. She keeps saying “we” and “us”. Sounds like she has chosen to support the Restorers again. And no doubt wanted him to as well.
“You want my help,” he stated.
She nodded. “And the Academy’s.”
“The Academy is not ready.” He sighed. “The sorcerers here are neither trained nor united enough to protect this world, even from a minor threat.”
“We don’t need them to fight,” Tarren told him. “We need them to help us find ways to hamper or stop the machines. This is the world in which magic-driven machines were invented. Therefore, the chances are good that a way to destroy them will emerge from here, too. Dahli says Zeke had discovered one before he was abducted, so it must be possible.”
“And they may have abducted Z…” Tyen blinked, then looked from the old man to Rielle. “Dahli?”
Her lips pressed together in grim amusement. “Yes. He only emerged from hiding to warn us of the machine army and to ask for help in rescuing Zeke.” She paused. “There’s no sign of deception in his mind but…”
There wouldn’t be. He could have blocked his memories of his true intentions. “Do you trust him?”
“Yes. No.” She grimaced. “We’re being careful – watching for deception and never assuming he’s telling the truth. He doesn’t recall blocking any memories, but he could have done it, then blocked his memory of doing so, setting up some kind of reliable way to instruct himself to unblock it in future.”
“Hmm.” Tyen considered the possibility. Dahli had always tried to avoid thinking about how he blocked memories when he was around Tyen, but in a few unguarded moments he’d given away some information. He had never blocked a memory of blocking memories because it was perilously close to losing the knowledge of how to block memories… or unblock them.
Would Dahli ever take that risk? He might have for Valhan, once. Would he do so for Zeke, now? Possibly. The man could be ruthlessly loyal. A trait that made Tyen simultaneously admire and distrust him.
“He is not to come here,” Tyen said. “Ever.”
Rielle nodded. She and Tarren remained still and silent, watching him. Waiting for an answer. He drew in a deep breath. Should he help them?
How could I refuse? It’s my fault the worlds are full of machines.
Would helping them endanger his world?
Yes, but no greater danger than me being here anyway. The risks can be minimised.
“Nobody else is to know the way to this world,” he said. “If you can find more inventors willing to help, that you are sure can be trusted to keep this world a secret, bring them to me. But they must be blindfolded when you do.”
Rielle nodded again.
“We’ll need more machines to study. Are you sure Zeke is their prisoner? If he is designing them, they’ll be growing ever more sophisticated.”
A third nod. “Dahli inspected some of the broken machines scouts brought back and says a few of Zeke’s ideas have been incorporated into them.”
Tyen winced as he considered what Kettin’s people might be doing to force Zeke into working for them. He couldn’t help thinking that Zeke would be living peacefully as a minor sorcerer in his home world if Tyen hadn’t released knowledge of mechanical magic from his. Of course I’m going to help… but I shouldn’t be too quick to jump when the Restorers call either. That might not benefit my world in the long term.
“I want to meet with Qall, Baluka and Dahli first.”
She smiled. “They want to meet with you, if you can do so without compromising the safety of this world.”
“I will need to choose someone to stand in my place while I’m away – and I should seek the permission of the Emperor to leave.” Tyen said it more as an afterthought, but the eyebrows of his friends rose. “A gesture of respect,” he explained. “It will lessen the chance of trouble later. Omniten has become a valuable ally and something of a friend.”
Rielle looked impressed. “That’s… unexpected, but not unwelcome.”
“For both of us.” Tyen shrugged. “Well… When does Qall expect me to meet him?”
She grimaced. “As soon as possible.”
“But not immediately.”
“You have time to make arrangements.”
“Could they wait until the morning? My request of the Emperor will be received far more warmly if it doesn’t arrive in the middle of the night.”
“I think it can,” she replied. “Is there somewhere we can wait?”
“Do you need to sleep?”
“No.”
Tyen nodded, pushed back his chair and rose. “I have a rather nice set of rooms near the Academy, in a good hotel. The food is excellent, so order a meal when you get hungry.” He grimaced. “At least someone will get to enjoy the benefits of my new position. You’ll probably spend more waking hours there than I have since I signed the rent contract.”
CHAPTER 13
A moment after the flash of lightning dazzled Tyen’s eyes, a deafening peal of thunder roared overhead. He felt the vibration of it despite the shield of stilled air he’d created around himself. After the enormous rocks that ringed the arrival place of this world had been struck the first time, he’d retreated down the hill, below where a slight bulge in the slope directed rainwater runoff to either side. With nowhere to shelter, he simply crouched there, all too aware that he had no idea if his shield, or his body, could survive a direct lightning strike.
He could only guess how long it had been since he’d arrived in this world. It had been a calm, rural site then – a pleasant place in which to wait for Rielle to return from arranging his meeting with the Restorers. Clouds had blown in with frightening speed, and soon it was raining. And now hail was pounding his shield, obliterating all sign of the arrival place above. He hoped Rielle would be able to find him when she returned. He hoped she wouldn’t be struck by lightning.
“Tyen,” a voice said not far from his ear.
He jumped and spun around to find Rielle standing behind him, smiling with amusement. She must have skimmed into his shield before arriving. Just as well she isn’t an enemy, or I’d be dead now, he thought. I should be creating an inner shield too. Has living in my world made me relax too much already? I must be more careful.
“Let’s go somewhere more comfortable,” she said, holding out her hand.
He grasped it and nodded.
The storm faded to white, then a different landscape emerged – this time a flat, pale expanse under a featureless sky, the only variation a circle of mounds around them. As they neared this new world the sky coloured blue, and the ground gained a pink tinge and the texture of cracked mud.
The pink substance crunched under their shoes as they arrived. A familiar tang hung in the air. Salt.
He turned to Rielle. “What did Qall say?”
She shook her head. “He wants you to come to the base.”
Tyen’s heart sank. He had been dismayed when Rielle said the meeting would take place in Affen and h
ad asked her to go on ahead and request a different location. Too many people in the Restorers had reason to hate him. Surely Qall understood that.
“Qall promises you won’t be harmed,” Rielle added.
Tyen grimaced. “He can only promise so much.”
“Do you doubt he can protect you?”
“No.” Tyen sighed. “I doubt he can stop people thinking what they think of me.”
Her eyes narrowed as she considered him. “So, this is only about facing their anger.”
“Yes,” he admitted, and looked away.
“You might feel better once you’ve explained why you did what you did,” she told him. “And apologise.”
“But everything I did, I did to help them. Or Vella.” He paused, then sighed again. “Well, some of my actions were to save my life, but I never sacrificed another’s life for my own sake.”
Her lips stretched in a thin, humourless smile. “That may be true, but people were hurt. And killed. Are you sorry for that? Sorry for how things turned out?”
“Of course.”
“Then that’s what they need to hear from you.” She paused, waiting until he looked up again. “Just as I needed to hear it.”
He nodded. “I know. I just… I wouldn’t blame them if they weren’t willing to listen.”
“You don’t really expect to help the Restorers from afar, do you? Or without having to work to regain their trust?”
“No, I suppose not.”
Damn you, Qall, Tyen thought. I was hoping I could just outlive my reputation.
But would he have, really? From the start he’d known establishing a respected school of sorcery would be difficult with the bad reputation he had. He had lain awake too many times thinking about ways he might restore his good name and he’d always come to the same conclusion: no matter what he did, the fact that he’d spied on the Rebels for the Raen, and then later appeared to be helping Dahli attempt to resurrect the Raen, would always overshadow everything good he’d done. He’d accepted that it was more likely that his crimes would be amplified and exaggerated and his good deeds forgotten over time. The future would not be easy, and he could do nothing to change that.
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