Into The Ruins (51 page)

Tara started toward the undamaged staff the dead female wizard had dropped when Daria’s knives had killed her, then realized how close the enemy was already.  The fallen staff was only a dozen paces away, but a dozen paces toward the advancing enemy.  She decided it probably wasn’t important, and changed her mind and turned away.  Had she known how important it was to become later that they acquire one of the Specialists staffs, she would have taken the chance to reach it.  Instead she hurried to catch up with the others.  Then the last of the Three Kingdom’s wizards that had come to Sedfair stepped into the
Bypass
, which immediately closed behind them.

Jeen had instinctively taken them back to the small oasis where they had made the jump into Nals.  This was out into the Ruins and hadn’t been visited by anyone, so was probably safe enough for the moment.  She could deal with the wounded boy, and then perhaps they could drop him somewhere that Rigo knew of away from those who would be seeking them before returning home.

Rigo was looking around.  “I don’t recognize this place,” he said.

“It’s one of the places we found that you hadn’t visited,” Burke explained, smiling and embracing Rigo.  “I’m sorry I didn’t come with you initially.  I should have been there for you.”

Rigo shook his head.  “You did the right thing.  You had obligations, but I’m damned glad to see you now, believe me.”

“How is he?” Shara asked, kneeling next to Jeen who was examining the boy.

“Bad,” Jeen said.  “Very bad.”

Together they probed the damage done by the blast that had struck near the boy.  Had it hit him directly, they wouldn’t be here.  He would have been burned beyond recognition.  Fortunately both Jeen and Shara were skilled with healing, and after several long and worrisome minutes, they gained the upper hand.  Carefully they healed the remaining damage, wiped away all signs of the blast burns, and then pulled their magic back.  They could see he was breathing softly, and after a moment he opened his eyes.  At first he was confused, and then awareness returned and he looked quickly around him.  He said something, but Jeen had no idea what.  She tried to calm him, but of course, he couldn’t understand her either.

“You were struck by the blast from one of the Casters,” Rigo said, coming up from behind them.  “Jeen was able to heal the damage.”

Fen turned quickly in his direction.  “It’s true what they say about your healing?” Fen asked.  “There were stories, but it was hard to be certain what was true.”  Fen looked around as he spoke, noticing the group of people who were watching him carefully.  “These are your friends?” he asked.

Rigo nodded.  “Now it’s time to get you somewhere so you can get home.”

“Where are we?” Fen asked, seeing the desert sands in the background.  Having lived on the border to the Wastelands all his life, he had a good idea.

“We are several days into the Wastelands,” Rigo replied, using the local term.

“You made a
Doorway
to get here?” Fen asked.

“Of course. That’s the only way we could have moved so quickly.”

“Did you mask it?” Fen asked.

“Mask it?” Rigo asked.  “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Did you hide the end point?  If not, they will be able to track you.  They will be here soon.”

Rigo had Fen explain in more detail, then he stood and walked over to Jeen.  He explained what he’d just learned from Fen.

“You seem pretty comfortable with the language,” she noted. 

“Another story for later.  But if what Fen tells me is true, they might be able to follow us where we go.  I think their ability to travel the Ruins is very limited, but I’m not absolutely certain they will be unable to overcome the Ruins, and I wouldn’t like to lead them back to the Three Kingdoms.”

“Is there anything we can do?” she asked.

“Fen says they can only follow a
Bypass
for a short time, then the trace disappears.  We can use that.  He also says, if a pair of
Bypass
are created at the same place, the second one will usually conceal the first.”

“What do you have in mind?” Jeen said.

Rigo explained.

“Sounds like a reasonable plan.  Let’s get this boy home, and then see if it will work.”

But Fen had other ideas.  “I want to go with you,” he said firmly when they told him they were taking him back to Sedfair.  Rigo thought it would be safe enough to drop him in Slipi, and then flee.

“Why would you want to do that?” Rigo asked.

“I want to learn your magic.  The Saltique is going to change back to a policy where only women can be taught.  I will have no chance to learn if I stay here.  Please, let me come with you.”

“What about your family?”

Fen looked confused.  “I don’t know,” he admitted.  “Maybe I can come home later.  Maybe I can help you.  I know a lot even if I haven’t been trained.”

Ash’urn had been listening.  “He has already alerted us to something we didn’t know, and he has these books I’ve taken a quick look at.  Perhaps he has knowledge that might unlock this magic for us and ultimately find something that will solve our problem with the Hoplani.  Let him come.  We can bring him back later.  It will save time now as well if we don’t need to make a detour into Sedfair with him.”

Rigo looked at Fen, but all he could see was determination.  He explained quickly to Jeen, including Ash’urn’s assessment of what Fen offered.

“Bring him,” she decided.  “We must go.  If he is correct, they could arrive at any time.”

The others had been standing guard while Rigo, Jeen and Ash’urn talked.  This was not a good place to defend, and they were anxious to go as well.  Rigo opened a
Bypass
to Oasis Six, and they all quickly moved on.

Rigo could see that Jeen was right.  The Guild had been here since he’d last visited.  The many footprints hadn’t been present when his smaller team had spent time here before.  That meant that they’d used Orna’s memories to come at least this far.  He wished he knew how much they had been able to extract before his friend had died from their probing. 

“What about his claims they can track the
Bypass
?” Jeen asked Rigo.

“I’ve never heard about that.  It never came up.  I wish I knew more.  Their leader, the one named Carif, said the Ruins blocked them, but was that because they didn’t extract the memories of the more distant oases, or was it a matter of their not having the capability of the staff, which allowed the jumps over certain regions?  From everything I’ve learned, I believe they are limited by the latter.  The simple truth is, I don’t know what we can believe.  There could be many reasons they could be lying.”

“If they have the ability to move through the Ruins but don’t know the way, we could be leading them home,” Jeen said.  This wasn’t something they had planned on.

“We should try and lead them astray just in case,” Rigo suggested.

“We split here,” Jeen said after a moment’s thought.  “One group will head back to the Outpost and explain what has happened.  I think it might be prudent to make an intermediary stop in the Ruins midway between Oasis Three and Oasis Four.  If they can follow, but lack the ability to operate in the blocked portions of the Ruins, they will end up trapped and unable to continue.  A fitting end for them!  The other team will jump immediately afterwards from the same spot toward one of the nearby oases in this cluster.  There are several that offer protection for an engagement if they really can follow.  We can find out soon enough if they can do so.  Hopefully that will also provide a means to mask our jump home, which will also include a stop in a blocked region, and should eliminate any who are following.”

Rigo pointed toward Burke and Lorl as he started to choose his team.

“Rigo, you’re going to the Outpost,” Jeen commanded firmly.

“I will go later.  I’m the strongest here, and we might need the power I can command.”

“You have more knowledge of this place than anyone else.  We have seen you in the monitor.  You have interacted and seen more than either Ash’urn or Lorl of the people in Sedfair.  I have also observed how well you speak the language.  Your knowledge is important to the Three Kingdoms and cannot be risked.  You will go immediately toward home.  I am, after all, in charge this time.”

“Ash’urn can go,” Rigo objected.  “He speaks the language almost as well.  He can carry what we have learned back.”

“Ash’urn goes to the Outpost along with you.  Daria and Kaler will also go with you just in case there are problems.  This next encounter will be one where magic will prevail.  You will also take the boy.  There is no time to argue.  Now go!”

Rigo was not comfortable with this, but he couldn’t deny the wisdom of her words.  Sedfair might become an enemy, and what he’d learned could make a difference.  He glanced at Burke, who was nodding his agreement.  Finally he nodded reluctantly.  “Okay,” he said.

Rigo opened a
Bypass
that would take them to a spot he recalled outside Oasis Three.  From there they could go to the oasis and then home.  He pointed to Fen, who stood and walked over beside him.  Daria and Kaler walked toward the
Bypass
as well.  “Let’s go, Lorl,” Rigo said.

“Not me,” Lorl said.  “I never learned the language, and there’s nothing I know that you don’t.  Now it’s my turn for a little payback.  I’m going with Jeen and the others.”

Rigo looked at Jeen. He hated letting her go into battle without him, but she was strong, in certain ways stronger than himself.  Briefly the old group had been together, and he felt they should be facing this enemy as a team as they had in the past.  Leaving Lorl would give her more forces and increase her chances of walking away unharmed.  “Okay,” he said softly.

As Rigo walked toward the
Bypass
, Jeen looked at Shara.  “Go with them,” she said.

Shara started to object.

“You came for Ash’urn,” Jeen said.  “Stay with him.  I’d feel better if two wizards are present all the way back to the Outpost.

Moments later the small group had disappeared and the
Bypass
closed behind them.  Jeen quickly opened another
Bypass
toward the nearby oasis, making the entry as close to where Rigo’s
Bypass
had been as possible.  As a group they stepped through.  On the far side they set up their defenses.

Jeen, Burke and Tara were positioned close together.  If needed, they could Link quickly for added power.  They had practiced the Linkage during their trip across the Ruins, and it had become very instinctual and quick.  A link could be formed including Diny and Kirl, but they were slower, and speed might be important here.  Lorl was an unknown, and this wasn’t the time to be experimenting.  That left those three to operate independently if a battle began.

For some time they thought that they had eluded any pursuers, and Jeen hoped they hadn’t been able to detect where Rigo had gone and followed them instead.  Then, she saw the first guardsman in his distinctive Sedfair colors, step out of the air into the clearing where their
Bypass
had deposited them half a glass earlier.  There was no longer any question that Fen had been correct.  Somehow, their
Bypass
portals could be followed.  She tensed and waited.  There was little to gain by revealing their presence to take out a single enemy guardsman.

Suddenly there were more.  A dozen, then a full two dozen.  Some had swords, but most were armed with crossbows.  Lorl had warned her about the arrows, indicating they used some form of magic to make the bolts resistant to magic.  She wondered why there were no wizards, then suddenly realized they had opened a second
Bypass
some fifty paces to one side and a large group of staff carrying individuals were pouring out onto the opening, most quickly seeking something that would provide cover.  Jeen was shocked that someone would risk a blind opening of a
Bypass
, not knowing exactly what might be found on the far side.

Kirl wasn’t of a mind to wait any longer, and seeing the large number of guardsmen, he let loose a blast of fireballs, sweeping a half dozen of the archers away as the fiery balls blasted into them.  The survivors quickly released their crossbow bolts toward the origin of the fireballs even as they moved toward cover.  Diny and Lorl tried to blast the arrows out of the sky, but unlike the arrows they had dealt with back home, many of these refused to succumb to the magic.  Several clattered off the rock that Kirl ducked behind just in time.

Seeing the glowing staffs of the enemy wizards, “Casters,” Rigo had called them, Jeen quickly linked with Burke and Tara.  She was the strongest in this configuration, and she called upon her
Brightfire
.  Recalling an encounter with the Hoplani long ago, Jeen created a fan of deadly energy, and released a blast that wiped out everything living thing in its path.  Four of the enemy Casters were caught in the initial sweep and simply ceased to exist. 

There was no time for another sweep as beams of energy blasted toward them from multiple locations.  Most of the beams were narrow white beams of
Brightfire
, but others were red, and one was green.  The green blast was particularly worrisome, as it was able to cut deep into the rocks that were being used for protection.  Diny created a pillar of swirling fire and directed it toward the hiding place where the green beams had originated.  Screams were heard as the intense whirlwind spun through the hiding place, with one Caster running into the open his entire body burning from the intense magical fire.  He didn’t know if he’d gotten the Caster producing the green beams, but for now, at least, they stopped.