Into The Ruins (65 page)

Queen Rosul’s loyal guardsmen directed by Tara surrounded the housing complex to ensure no one escaped the building by conventional means.  Then Burke and his fellow wizards approached the front entrance.  As yet, it was hoped that no one realized they were there or the intent of the visit.  Two thirds of the wizard team watched for any signs of aggression, while the rest supported Burke and Tara and they systematically visited each residence.  Most residents were shocked by their demands, but submitted when they saw the strength of the forces present.  Staffs were collected, and the Casters were questioned about any other casting materials they might have in the apartment.  They were then told to wait under guard while the apartments were searched.  If their claims were proved to be false, the Casters were taken away.  If their apartments were as claimed, they were allowed to return, but warned to stay inside as they would be contacted for further discussions later.

The first several apartments were cleared without incident.  At the fifth, the resident unleashed a string of fire, destroying the door instead of answering it.  Burke squelched the attack as Tara quickly unleashed a response that caught the initiator of the conflict unprepared.  A quick search of the apartment showed the dead Caster lived alone.  The damaged staff was taken, her charred remains left for later.

If anyone in the complex had been unaware of their presence, that had certainly changed with the noisy encounter with the now dead resident.  The tenseness in his fellow wizards was obvious as Burke led the way down the wide hallway.  A small group of four Casters attempted to surprise Burke’s team as they approached one of the cafeterias.  The fan of
Brightfire
was poorly aimed and while it caught two guards on the fringes of Burke’s advancing force, the withering return fire created by a dozen skilled combat wizards ripped out the walls and turned the room into an inferno within moments.  The two bodies were found afterwards, indicating that several of the Casters had managed to escape, although they were more than likely wounded.  The response had been quick, and Burke doubted they’d had time to create a
Bypass
and leave without being caught in some of the return fire his fellows had directed into the room.

Most residents turned over their staffs and submitted to the searches by the guardsmen without incident.  Another dozen apartments were found to be empty, with signs of recent habitation.  A handful were empty, and appeared to have been unoccupied.  The sweep had gone more easily than Burke could have hoped, and other than the two guardsmen killed by the earlier attack, his team had suffered no injuries.  The collected staffs were taken back to the castle and stored temporarily under guard.

To the south, the team lead by Chut worked its way through the second facility with even less difficulty.  Only a few transient Casters lived in the southern complex, the rest mostly instructors or administrators for the Guild.  The sole incident of resistance was quickly ended by one of Chut’s wizards, who struck quickly and without restraint, terminating the life of the Caster who had attempted to oppose them.

*                            *                            *                            *                            *

By the middle of the morning, the assault was over.  A combination of wizards and guardsmen controlled the entirety of the Guild’s facilities, with the exception of the former residences of the Saltique and the Specialists.  The ragged hole that was all that was left of the structure was a reminder of the magnitude of the power controlled by the Guild’s former leaders.  Rigo believed that Carif had destroyed the building as she fled to make certain nothing of value would be found by those who sought her. 

Was it a victory?  Rigo felt it difficult to consider it as such, although they had taken the base of operations from the woman.  She and her surviving Specialists had fled.  There was no knowing where they went.  Whether they had a remote base well prepared, or whether the attack had caught them unaware and they had fled without being properly prepared was also unknown.  Only time would tell.  Chasing them down was going to be both dangerous and difficult.

At least twenty-five Senior Casters had been killed.  In several cases it was impossible to be certain.  Many more had fled, and with time  it would hopefully be possible to put names to the missing Casters.  Most of the rest of the Guild’s people were surprised and appalled at what they were learning.  Scanning would begin later in the day to clear them as quickly as possible.  For now, the almost two hundred staffs collected would be retained in the castle.

The cost had been large for the Three Kingdoms.  Fourteen wizards had been killed, most in Rigo and Jeen’s teams.  Several more had been badly burned or hurt by falling debris.  Most of those had since been healed.  Eight guardsmen from the Three Kingdoms had also died in the fighting, as had another six of Queen Rosul’s forces.  Far too many considering the primary targets of the exercise had escaped.  Rigo was certain they would make their displeasure known before too long.

A quick tour of the headquarters revealed a number of interesting finds.  The upper floor held an extensive library of old and even ancient texts that were not available to those studying at the university itself.  These had been special references held back for the Guild’s elite.  Rigo had already assigned a squad of guardsmen to begin relocating the texts to the castle where they could be better controlled.  He wanted both Ash’urn and Daim to have a look at the find.  Who knew?  Perhaps some of the answers they sought to the problem of the Hoplani might be hidden there.  In another one of the storage rooms in the lower level they found sufficient raw crystals to create at least fifty more staffs, and the raw materials for the shafts.  A workshop showed that Guild craftsmen had recently been at work making more of the powerful staffs.  For now, the supply of crystal was being guarded.  In another room, they located huge rolls of thin gold foil.  A full pace wide, there was enough of the foil to stretch all the way back to the castle.  When he asked the purpose, Rigo was told it was Caster’s foil, a very valuable tool for special spells.

There was no way to prevent any of those who had escaped from returning, especially since a number could make masked
Doorways
.  Sufficient guardsmen and wizards now patrolled the area so that it was unlikely they could do so without being quickly detected, and the means of alerting the Outpost’s senior wizards was in place.

Back in the castle, Rigo went in search of Daim.  He and Jeen had already reported the results of the attacks to Queen Rosul, who would be addressing the people of Nals before the day was over.  Messengers would be escorted by a small group of wizards, so the word would be spread to the remote corners of the kingdom.  Carif and her band were now sought as traitors, with a death sentence on their heads.  There was the very real and difficult question of how the sentence would be imposed, but at least they would soon find it difficult to act as if they still retained official authority. 

Some of those with inherent magic who had been removed from the island were being returned from the Three Kingdoms at Rosul’s request.  Queen Rosul had a trusted cadre of fledgling wizards in these people, and would make them the core of her own forces as she tried to rebuild the Guild in a more suitable manner.  Most had limited ability, and wouldn’t be capable fighters, but that would change over the next weeks.  Rigo knew he would have to give them access to a wider range of magical skills if they were to become truly effective.

“Is it going to work?” Rigo asked Daim when he found him in the lower level of the castle. 

Daim nodded thoughtfully.  Sometimes Rigo could see traces of the older wizard that he’d carried in his own mind for so long in the expressions on the face of the young body that now had become the Master Wizard.  Even given his greatly lessened capability and the sometimes annoying gaps in his memory, Daim was surprisingly resourceful.  He had recently taught Rigo that not all of magic was contained in the skills that were easily passed between wizards.  Daim made it clear that a whole branch of what could be done had to be painstakingly learned and tried in the old fashioned way.  What Rigo had been given by the elder wizard when he’d placed the ring on his finger, had not been everything as he’d once thought.  When Daim faded, so did the vast knowledge that Rigo hadn’t even known was there.  “I think so,” Daim said, his lips pursed as he considered the small green crystal he had positioned carefully into a hole in the stone that formed one of the castle’s supporting walls.  “An open structure like the castle is far more difficult than the enclosed caves I had constructed in the Ruins.”

“When will you know?” Rigo asked.

“Tonight. I have to locate two more of these crystals, then activate the spell that will cause them to merge with the very stone of the castle.  If it works, you will have a zone, extending some fifty paces beyond the walls.  Like my hideaway only those authorized will be able to create a
Bypass
into the protected zone.  Your renegade Caster and her friends will find the castle off limits to them.”

“What about if they have one of the older amulets, or even one of the new ones that overcome blockages?” Rigo asked.

“This doesn’t work on the same principles.  The armbands everyone wears will make no difference.  If you haven’t been linked to the zone properly, you simply will not be able to create a
Bypass
here, coming or going.”

Rigo laid his hand on Daim’s shoulder.  He still thought of him as the old man, even if Brice had been younger than himself.  Something in the way Daim spoke and carried himself gave the impression of age and wisdom.  “Let me know.  I’ll feel far better once the castle is protected against a surprise return by Carif or her friends.”  Rigo hesitated.  “We should do the same for the castles in the Three Kingdoms.  I am not yet convinced we are safe from this woman, and she now has even more reason to seek revenge against our homeland.”

“If this works as I expect, I’ll head home tomorrow and see to it.  It’ll go faster now that I’ve worked out the details.”

Rigo would have liked to know how it was done, or have Daim share the knowledge, but he’d realized when Daim tried to show him the basics that an extensive groundwork of information needed to be learned first.  It would take considerable time if he was to develop the proper background.  It was something he hoped to pursue once matters settled down. 

Just over a full day had passed since the Three Kingdoms had launched the early morning attack on the Guild.  Once again, there had been no retaliation from Carif or her supporters.  Of course, none of them could have attacked the castle directly.  Daim’s little modification worked exactly as he had promised.  The wizard was more skilled than even Rigo had thought.  With the special spells that Daim had activated, only a handful of individuals could create a
Bypass
that ended inside the castle.  Anyone else that attempted to do so would find that the
Bypass
simply wouldn’t form.  Rigo had seen it work before which was what had led them to making the special permanent
Bypass
from the Outpost out to Daim’s old hideaway. 

Of course Carif and her followers could have attacked from outside the castle.  Their magic was certainly powerful enough to rip the walls of the place apart, but to do so they would have had to stand in the open where they’d be exposed targets themselves.  Targets for the wizards that Rigo and Jeen had carefully located around the stronghold, and for the many guardsmen who now surrounded the area around the castle.  The Royal Guard and Sedfair’s Army had rallied behind Rosul.  They knew what Carif had attempted.  The people of Nals were starting to become aware as well.  Many of those in the Guild who had been tested and cleared, publicly took stands against the actions Carif had been pursuing. 

“Has Daim gone back to the Outpost?” Jeen asked when she found Rigo standing at the upper wall staring at the Guild across the hill.  There was far less activity there than usual.  The students were drifting away, and even those Casters who had been cleared remained limited in what magic they could call upon.  The staffs were still locked away where none would find them until this was truly over.  Many of the Casters had become lax and were not as versed in crafting their own symbols, which would have been required without the staffs if they wished to initiate any spells other than those used by the general public.

Rigo nodded, his eyes dark.  They had lost too many, and the woman he wished to see eliminated was still out there.  Lorl was gone, as were a couple of others he’d known well.  News had come from Nycoh.  The Hoplani were still on the move, and two major encounters had taken place while they were engaged here.  The wizards would have to be starting for home soon, at least a great many of them.  It would be a very long time before the Hoplani threat was under control again.  As badly as the wizard’s magic was needed here, the problems at home took priority, at least until they learned where Carif had gone.

Rosul’s island people would be coming back.  Most were now growing in power, their maturity after being activated taking hold.  Rigo knew it would be necessary to pass them more skills than he had thus far, if they were to become an effective force for the Queen in defending against the renegade Casters.  As nervous as it made him, they would have to return the staffs to many of the cleared Casters as well.  Sedfair still had its own problems and needed their Casters if there would be any hope of solving them.  In addition to whatever unpredictable actions Carif might instigate, they had their own fight against the Hoplani, as well as the recurring attacks by the Baldari. 

“He will pass the word to Nycoh regarding the people Queen Rosul wanted returned.  He also will see to protecting the Castles in Branid and Kellmore.  There’s little to be done in Lopal.  The Lamane doesn’t have a castle.  He lives in a tent, which will make it hard to protect him.  Hopefully he will take heed, and move frequently.”

“Are we even certain that Carif has the ability to move through the Ruins?”

Rigo reached into his pocket and withdrew the small damaged amulet that had been found in Carif’s office at the Guild Headquarters.  He’d come up here to think after Daim told him what he’d thought just before departing.

“It’s broken,” Jeen said.  She could see the similarity to the amulets they used to wear.  There was no doubt it was an attempt to copy them, most likely based on the one that had been lost during Rigo’s rescue.  “Do we know whether it ever worked?”

“Daim’s opinion is that it failed under stress from being used in the Ruins, much as our original staffs did and left us stranded here in Sedfair.  His guess is that it would work a limited number of times before failing, but if they have enough of them, they could carry spares.  That suggests they can still reach the Three Kingdoms.”

“It also suggests they only know the way that we use to cross the Ruins,” Jeen argued.  “Those paths are now well protected.  It is impossible they could pass through unprotected.”

Rigo frowned.  “I suspect Carif is more resourceful than that.  We have to be prepared for the unexpected.”

“What can we do?  Has word been sent to Nycoh?”

“Daim will inform her of what we have learned and what we suspect.  The only chance for this to be over is to find that woman and take her powers from her.  For the first time I can see how the wars of magic so long ago grew so completely out of control.”

Jeen was silent for a few moments, then she reached out and touched Rigo’s sleeve.  “Come, Queen Rosul wants to speak with us.”

Queen Rosul showed the strain from the battle that had changed the nature of Sedfair’s relationship between Royalty and the Guild forevermore.  She had seen unnecessary deaths as a result of the Guild’s actions.  Her own family had been nearly wiped out, something she’d had no time to deal with properly, but the vacant look often seen in her eyes showed she hadn’t forgotten.  A foreign army had shed blood on Sedfair’s behalf, and some of her own troops had died in the previous day’s assault. 

She and Kall were discussing something intently as Rigo and Jeen walked over to them.  The inside of the castle where the Queen’s private quarters had been were still a mess.  The worst of the rubble had been cleared away, but no longer were there meeting rooms or private offices where she could hold court.  A couple of tents had been set up, and they would have to do until matters were settled.

“This will help greatly,” Rosul said to Kall.  She showed the two approaching wizards what had been found in the Guild’s Headquarters.  “Here’s Sedfair’s new Queen,” she said, showing them the announcement she and Kall had been looking at.

“I thought the voting had never been initiated,” Jeen said.

“It hadn’t,” Rosul confirmed.  “Carif postponed it after I was ‘kidnapped’, yet she had all the announcements and results prepared for her selected replacement.  The Hundred Families need to see this.  There have been some complaints and uneasiness with the break in tradition I have forced upon them by refusing to relinquish the throne for another year.  This will help them see how Carif was manipulating them.”

“Would she have been a good Queen?” Rigo asked.  The name meant nothing to him.

“Good from Carif’s perspective.  She never had an original thought in her life.  She would have been easily molded to follow the Guild’s agenda.”

“How will a new Queen be chosen now?” Jeen asked.

“A problem to be solved later,” Rosul asserted.  “It will not be under the oversight of the Guild, of that I can assure you.”

“Have you considered what to do with the Guild?” Rigo asked.  “There are many Casters who are proving loyal. And their skills and power are sorely needed to properly defend Sedfair.”  A detailed list of all Casters who had been awarded the staff had been found at the headquarters as well.  Each Caster listed was being sought, and tested for loyalty.  Those missing would be considered as Carif’s sympathizers.  It wasn’t perfect, but it gave them some idea of the magnitude of the force that might exist against them.  A number had been killed, but it might be difficult to determine which of the many Senior Casters listed they might have been.  For now, they had a rough count of those who had died to tally against the list.  The searches had also turned up a surprising number of the magic restricting bands such as the ones that Rigo had been forced to wear.  They might come in handy as well.  Daim had taken one of the bands back with him to study, and Rigo expected an improved version might be forthcoming.

“I’ve decided to appoint a temporary head, actually two of them, to oversee the Guild’s activities.  The leaders will answer to Kall before any policy can move forward.”

“That is a significant break with tradition as well,” Jeen said smiling.  “How long has it been since a man has held such a position of power?”

“I don’t care,” Rosul said.  “Kall knows what makes sense, and he can be trusted to make sound military decisions.”

“Who have you chosen?” Rigo asked.

“Lyes, for one.  Not only has he shown a certain maturity with our own established magic, but he is the strongest among us with your kind of magic.  I also know he can be trusted.  He took great risks for me for several years.”

“You said you were appointing two leaders,” Jeen said.

“I’m accepting Kall’s recommendation,” Rosul said.  “He was very impressed with a Senior Warrior Caster named Ardra he encountered after one of the Baldari attacks.  He felt she was skilled and had the proper priorities.  I have asked that she be found and brought to the castle.”

Rigo remembered the young woman.  She’d been the one who had risked censure with the Eight by releasing Lorl from his bands so he could use his healing on the wounded.  Rigo had to agree with Kall’s assessment.

Rosul handed the announcement with the name of the woman she intended to ensure never became Queen to Kall, and turned to Rigo.  “How about the teams?  Have you been able to organize them as we spoke earlier?”

“They will be deploying over the next day or two,” Rigo replied.  “They will be sent to all areas in Sedfair, and each will carry a number of alert bracelets that we are making as fast as we can.  The bracelets are modifications of a locator device that we have used for many years in one form or another.  If activated, which is done simply by snapping the device, we will be alerted to various situations.  One of the bracelets will alert us to a sighting of Carif or one of her senior people.  Another will alert us to a Baldari attack, so we can respond far more quickly than in the past.  The last will aid in finding more with the inherent magical power.  If such individuals are found, we can go and test them.  Sedfair will need all such people it can find.”

“What of your own people?” Rosul asked.

“Most will have to return to the Three Kingdoms.  We have our own problems, some of them due to Carif’s meddling.  It is also possible that she is not finished with her attacks there.  We will remain in frequent contact, however, with couriers every day.  Until Carif is found, both of our kingdoms are at risk and each might need the other’s support.”

“And what about you and Jeen?”

“I’ll be going back,” Jeen said.  “Rigo plans to stay in Sedfair and participate in the hunt for the former Saltique.”

“That position has been permanently retired,” Queen Rosul said with a frown.  “I’m glad Rigo will be remaining, and I hope you will return.  We owe you and the Three Kingdoms a great debt.”

“I think both lands will benefit from the treaties that have been discussed,” Jeen said, knowing it would be some time before any trade could hope to begin.

That seemed to settle matters for the moment.  Rigo and Kall would work directly together, while the Queen dealt more directly with the Hundred Families and the political niceties of Sedfair.  Just as Rigo and Jeen were about to leave, she asked, “By the way.  Where is Mitty?”