Into The Ruins (22 page)

“What is it?” Rigo asked.  He was studying the reports from the teams in the tent they had set up in the oasis.

“I’d rather you have a look for yourself,” she said.

Rigo shrugged, and stood to follow her.  Rigo opened a
Bypass
to the far south of the
Dunerider
village at her direction to save them a long walk, something he could do from the oasis, but which they only did with one of the staffs. 

“We found this tunnel opening yesterday, and thought it was just another way down into the “Farms”,” she explained as they walked into the shade of the entrance.  “It turns out it goes somewhere else.”

Rigo followed, wondering why she didn’t want to explain, but it didn’t take long to reach the bottom and see.  Like the Hoplani factory, this tunnel lead to a cavern with production enclosures, but the product here was different.  Only a couple of the possible sites were currently active, but Rigo could see the partially formed
Duneriders
that were growing. 

“They were designed to take care of the Hoplani,” he said.  “This explains why they are so resistant to the Ruins. They probably draw their energy from the Ruins just like the Hoplani.  I’ll bet they have some kind of embedded crystal for a power source just like Hoplani.” 

The discovery explained a lot, including why they had never located any females or younger
Duneriders
.  They simply didn’t exist.  Whoever had created the Hoplani, had also created the
Duneriders
to oversee them.  Rigo was disappointed.  He had come to view the
Duneriders
as individuals.  This discovery reduced them to magical artifacts, which he knew was wrong, but he couldn’t help the thought from forming..

“I’m surprised she agreed to allow us to take the staffs,” Orna said, referring to Nycoh, who had been angry at Rigo’s decision to venture deeper into the Ruins.

“One of them is mine anyway,” Rigo replied.  “She could have kept the other I suppose, but that would have reduced our chances of success, and she’s not petty.  They have no use for it anyway.  There has been enough travel to demonstrate anyone can travel from the Outpost to Oasis Three and from there to Oasis Four without needing a staff.  That means they can get to the Hoplani Farms without using one.  The staff can’t overcome the blocking effects inside the caverns, so it can’t help them with the problem there anyway.”

“She believes you have found what you sought, and every effort should be focused on destroying the caverns,” Lorl said, from his position atop the Hoplani.  This trip they each rode atop one of the beasts.  Rigo still didn’t know how Ash’urn had managed to convey their desire to travel east to the
Dunerider
who had provided them with the Hoplani mounts and who now led them across the sands.  Rigo knew Ash’urn had shown him a section of a tree limb and pointed off to the east, indicating their desire to find another oasis that way.  The
Dunerider
had apparently understood, at least they were betting that he had, and he now led them through the sands into territory they had never seen before.

“I understand her concern,” Rigo replied, “but the simple truth is after three weeks of thinking about the problem, I don’t think we have a means of accomplishing the task.  None of our magic works where it would be required to disable the farms.  Attacking the production chambers manually would take forever.  We hacked away at the one we tried to disable with both our own Kellmore blades and those blades made from bones to little avail.  We never succeeded in doing enough damage to prevent the thing from working.  And that was only one of what, a thousand such production chambers?”

“So what do we hope to gain by returning to these despicable sands?” Orna asked.

“We haven’t learned who built the Hoplani farms or for what purpose,” Rigo replied.  “Everything we have learned suggests the Farms have been running for centuries without guidance.  Someone, a long time ago, used magic on a scale we can’t even imagine to create them.  It wasn’t the
Duneriders
.  They are a product of the Farms every bit as much as the Hoplani.  I don’t think we are going to find it within our means to alter what is happening there in any significant way. That means we must find whoever is responsible for bringing the Farms into existence, or at least the magic that was used, if we are to have any hope of destroying them.”

“And you believe the answers are out here?” Lorl asked.  He sounded as if he was having second thoughts about coming along.  Well, if that was the case he could change his mind once they found an oasis that would allow them to make the jump back to Oasis Four and the Farms.

Rigo shrugged.  “Something must be out here.  The Farms were designed to send half of the Hoplani in this direction.  There’s no evidence that we missed anything coming out from the Three Kingdoms.”

Ash’urn listened to the interchange without adding anything of his own.  He and Rigo had discussed the risks of continuing, but both were of a mind that finding the Farms had not provided a solution to the problem back home.  Now they were engaged in this risky venture.  Traveling at Hoplani speeds, they were well beyond the range of the staff to take them back to Oasis Four and safety.  They had already traveled seven back-breaking days without reaching an oasis.  Two days on the Hoplani, traveling day and night, had brought them to the limits of the staff’s reach in the past.  That meant going home from where they currently were would mean creating several
Bypass
portals that began and ended in the dead zone.  That was why Lorl had been so disturbed and why he had initiated the discussion that had started a while earlier.  They had talked about all of this before. 

Ash’urn was more interested in what lay ahead.  He had shown the
Dunerider
the branch he had carried along, and the little man had pointed east and continued riding.  He supposed there was little to be lost by continuing onward until they reached the limits of their food and water.  A couple more days was Ash’urn’s estimate.  Then they would have no choice but to gamble and risk the possibly tainted
Bypass
.

It was the middle of the afternoon on the ninth day that the first sighting of green was made in the distance.  Orna whooped when she spotted the patch, and Ash’urn flashed a tired grin at Rigo.  It was starting to look as if the gamble might have paid off, at least in terms of reaching deeper into the forbidden lands of the Ruins.  Half a glass later they rode up to the edge of a very large oasis, formally christened Oasis Five by Rigo.  There was a pond almost as large as they had found back at Oasis Three, and the weary travelers fell into the water and then lounged on the grass in the shade while their clothing dried. 

After they had relaxed, Rigo said finally.  “Shall we head back?  They must be very concerned back home.”

Everyone was ready for a return to the Outpost for a few days.  Rigo considered jumping back to the Hoplani Farms to check on matters, but he knew the
Dunerider
wouldn’t make use of the
Bypass
, and they really needed to get all the way back to the Outpost, so he pictured the large enclosure in Oasis Three where they had spent so many days.  It felt as if the
Bypass
was slow to form, but then there it was, the glowing arch a welcoming sight after the days in the dead zone when they couldn’t safely create one.  Rigo sensed he might have trouble making the
Bypass
without the staff, even though they were in the middle of a normal zone.  Somehow the Ruins was exerting an effect that was trying to block the magic used in creating the
Bypass
.

As they prepared to step into the opening, Rigo looked around for the
Dunerider
, but saw that he was already heading back into the Ruins, heading west back toward the Hoplani Farms so many days behind them.  Rigo wished he could communicate with them.  There hadn’t been anyway to thank the man for getting them here.  Then they were back at Oasis Three, and moments later back home in the Outpost.  Rigo and Ash’urn headed toward Nycoh’s office to report in, and were greeted by a look of relief as they were welcomed into her presence.

“We were worried,” she said simply. 

Rigo explained how far they’d had to travel to reach the oasis this time.

“You found nothing on the way?” she asked, already certain of the answer.

“It’s a dead zone the entire distance.  The Farms are clearly in the middle of the worst part of the Ruins.  I don’t know if the Farms cause it, or they were located in the middle for another reason.”

“We have made no progress with the problem,” Nycoh admitted, her eyes reflecting her exhaustion.  “Manual labor, which is what we are reduced to there, is not going to suffice.”

Rigo nodded.  “That is what I believe as well.”

“Do you really expect to find answers deeper in the Ruins?” Nycoh asked.  Rigo had never seen the normally upbeat young woman so dispirited.  “What if there are more Hoplani Farms out there?”

Rigo shook his head.  “I have no idea.  There has to be something somewhere.  There certainly doesn’t appear to be anything that will help us at the Farms.  Knowing the origin of the creatures isn’t going to stop them from attacking the barriers.  I thought at first we might be able to control them like the
Duneriders
do, but even they only interact with a small number of those that are produced.  I also don’t see a means of bridging the language barrier anytime soon.”

“You’re going to continue your searches?”

“After a couple of days.  We need a break.  The Ruins wear on one, and it feels that the region we just crossed was especially unsettling.  Has anything happened back here or in the Three Kingdoms we should know about?”

“A couple more towers were breached.  That has been dealt with, but the constant occurrence of the attacks underscores the importance of finding an answer.”

Two days later, the four explorers retraced their steps back to Oasis Five.  From Oasis Three, Rigo tried to make a
Bypass
to Oasis Five without the staff.  He was unable to do so.  None of the others could either.  They jumped to Oasis Four at the Farms, and from there Rigo attempted the
Bypass
to Oasis Five without the staff.  Once again, he couldn’t make the arch form.  Concerned, he used the staff.  He felt the same hesitation he’d noted when they left, but the
Bypass
formed, if delayed very minutely.  This was something they would need to keep in mind as they ventured farther across the Ruins.  A staff was required to get from Five back to the more familiar territory.

Now they were on foot, which meant their progress was far slower than it had been while riding the Hoplani.  Within a day and a half of walking, they found the next oasis.  A day later they found another.  Both were smaller than Oasis Five where they had left a large stockpile of food, but the closeness made their traveling easier.  Each day they returned to Oasis Five, where they camped, sent back a message to Oasis Four that was to be relayed back to Nycoh at the Outpost.  For the next week they found the Ruins riddled with the frequent patches of green. 

The team had grown close together over the past few days.  The adventures since they had left the Hoplani Farms had been risky, and they had learned to count on one another.  Rigo and Ash’urn had known one another for a long time, but the bond to the others had now matured.  Orna was an especially good traveling companion.  She always did more than her share of the camp chores, and had a quick wit and an unusual sense of humor.  She could find something to laugh about in almost anything, and had helped to keep everyone’s spirits high. 

After eight days the Ruins regained its hold, and the spacing of the frequent shelters widened once again.  When they came to a very large oasis they named it Oasis Six and made a run back to the Outpost for supplies and a couple of days away from the sands.  They discovered that even with the staff, Oasis Three could no longer be reached.  They had to jump first to Oasis Four at the farms, then to Three, and finally all the way back to the Outpost. 

Rigo was uncomfortable with the blocking effects of the Ruins, but as yet it was not restricting them in any substantial way.  After restocking their camp at Oasis Five, they jumped to Six where they had ended their searches a couple of days earlier, and moved onward.  Three days out, they located a wide zone where the deadening effects of the Ruins were no longer active.  This was more like the Ruins they knew along the border of Lopal back home.  While they were crossing the normal zone they had their fourth encounter with Hoplani since leaving the farms.  The creatures they encountered out here were more like those they had known back in the three kingdoms, not the docile, obedient beasts used by the
Duneriders
.  Twice before they had been forced to use their magic to kill many.  Once it had been Orna’s quick eyes that had detected the presence of an attacking beast and saved them from a possibly dangerous encounter.  This time there was an angry Morvane, and while all three of them had access to their magic here in the normal zone, they chose to create a
Bypass
and avoid a fight that served no purpose.  They had been in the clear zone for almost another day when Orna spotted a reflection to the south of them.

“What is it?” Lorl asked, unable to see any detail.

“I can’t tell either,” she replied.  “Perhaps we should have a look.”

The flash appeared to be a walk of a glass or two, but they were looking for anything unusual, and this was the first unexplained sighting they had made since leaving the farms.  Rigo pointed toward the flash, and Orna took the lead. 

“It’s some kind of metal,” Ash’urn noted when they approached close enough to see the object that had reflected the light toward them.

It was indeed metal.  It glowed with a yellow color much like gold, but when they approached and tested it, the metal was something else, and resistant to their attempts to mark it.  The section that was protruding from the sands stood almost a man height above the surrounding landscape.  It was rectangular in shape, roughly five hands wide on each face.  Strange symbols covered each of the four faces, the markings remarkably sharp and unworn for something that must have been in place for thousands of years. 

“Can we uncover it?” Ash’urn asked.  He had taken out his journal and was sketching the object and trying to capture the symbols on each face.

Using magic, it was a simple matter to clear away the sand that surrounded the object, and gradually they revealed a pillar that was three times the height of a man before the bottom of the column widened into a rectangular base.  A little probing showed nothing under the base but sand.

“Do you recognize any of the writing?” Rigo asked the elder scholar. 

“I’ve never seen any of the symbols before,” Ash’urn replied with certainty.  “There are also four distinct sets of characters.  I think the same meaning is repeated in different languages.”