Into The Ruins (66 page)

Mitty walked slowly around the Outpost.  She had seen it was a busy place the first couple of times she had passed through it, but the last couple of days it had been oddly quiet.  Most of the wizards who were normally resident or spent their time here were currently elsewhere, a great number in her homeland far across the vast wastelands.  People came and went, often in a hurry, but the numbers were reduced from the level of activity she had come to associate with the place.  Between guarding the Wastelands, fighting the Chulls, Hoplani she reminded herself, and fighting the Guild in Sedfair, their forces were stretched very thin.

She could have stayed in Sulen at the castle.  The Royal Family there had been more than kind, but none of them were able to speak her language, and despite a growing vocabulary, she had difficulty making herself understood.  Here, all of the wizards now knew the language of Sedfair, and she even had friends from home.  Both Lyes and the young novice Fen, had rooms here as well.  Lyes she had known for years, and while Fen was a new acquaintance, she found him intriguing.  His enthusiasm was a delight to behold.

Still, she felt lost.  Even with Fen and Lyes, she was lonely and felt unimportant.  When she was in Sedfair, she had purpose.  She’d enjoyed showing the westerners around.  She also had plans for the future.  She had a talent for business, and the Queen’s daughter had promised her the directorship of one of the northern cities in her expanding shipping empire.  That was now lost.  She had heard that most of Queen Rosul’s family had been killed by Carif.  Yisa was among those murdered.  Who knew what would happen to the business now, and what her future might be? 

It was different when Rigo was here with her.  Somehow, despite how busy he had been, he’d found time for her.  Just as she’d showed him Sedfair, he’d made a point of showing her around the Three Kingdoms.  Now he was far away, in considerable danger, and she had no way to know what was happening with him.  She knew her feelings went beyond what made sense given their limited time together, but sensed he had some of the same thoughts for her. 

She also missed Jeen.   While she knew many of the other wizards, Jeen and she had connected immediately, and Mitty had learned much about Rigo that she’d wondered about from the woman who had shared many of Rigo’s earlier adventures.  She now knew a great deal about Inge, who had been murdered while Rigo had been in the Ruins seeking answers to the Hoplani problem.  She was encouraged that like herself, Inge had been without magical skills.  Jeen had told her how Rigo had withdrawn from everyone for a long time when he had returned and learned what had happened.

Without them here, Mitty felt out of place.  Everybody was somehow involved in magic.  Lyes had demonstrated he was skilled at both the symbolic magic of Sedfair, and the inherent magic practiced by the wizards here in the Three Kingdoms.  Fen could create symbols with an ease and skill that surprised Lyes, and even Ash’urn, who she had learned was without the gift of magic, had somehow become a powerful Caster. Queen Mos’pera was something they called a Seer.  Someone who caught glimpses of the future.  No one like that existed in Sedfair.  At least Mitty had never heard of someone with that ability.  Then, just the other day, Lyes had left, called back to Sedfair by the Queen.  He was needed there.

Alone, with just Fen, she’d decided if others could do it, perhaps she could as well.  She’d asked him to help her learn some basic magic.  It was a skill she’d never shown any interest in before.  It hadn’t seemed important.  There were those who had the skill or the interest.  Since she hadn’t been driven by an internal desire to learn magic, she had decided it wasn’t her calling.  Now, being able to function in the changing world, the ability to control magic seemed more important.  Mitty was good with languages, or at least with words, but not so much with crafting.  Fortunately, there was a whole class of magic that could be learned where the crafting was already done by others, and one only needed to master the convoluted phrases that triggered the spells.  She thought she would like to learn healing, if she had the talent.  What she had seen Jeen do was a miracle, and while the abilities offered by the symbolic magic paled in comparison, it would be a start.

She should have thought more about Queen Rosul’s warning regarding the Guild when she’d been first told of the suspicious actions of the Saltique.  Now, Sedfair was under attack from so many directions.  The Three Kingdoms as well.  If she believed what Rigo told her, there was a chance they could fail completely.  He’d considered the future grim enough some years before, which had been what motivated his searches into the Wastelands.  Now, those conditions still existed, and a war between disparate groups with magic seemed in the making. 

Mitty stared at her reflection in the mirror on the wall of the long hallway.  Her pale white hair and eyebrows seemed different to her now.  She’d long known that her unusual hair coloring was something that showed up in her family every several generations, then faded away again.  She’d always enjoyed the unique look it afforded her, but now she wondered if it were more.  She was probably being silly, but Queen Mos’pera had unusually white hair as well, and she was a Seer.  Mitty couldn’t help wondering if there was a small possibility that she had similar capabilities that hadn’t developed yet.  It was probably a silly idea.  As far as she knew, there was no record of someone in her family claiming the ability to sense future events

But it wasn’t entirely an idle thought.  She had been having unsettling dreams of late.  At first she had believed they were the result of the disruption in her life, the unexpected flight across the Wastelands, and the unexpected war that had developed in Sedfair.  But the dream recurred every night.  It was always the same.  That made her wonder if there might be more to it than she’d initially believed.  She had almost decided she would ask to speak with Queen Mos’pera about it if the same dream occurred again.  When she was young she’d had a series of dreams that plagued her for nearly a month.  She’d seen small horses ridden by wild men.  The horses were strange and dangerous and had truly frightened her, chasing her to her parent’s bed.  When the visions had finally faded, she’d forgotten them until the Baldari and their odd mounts were encountered.  Now she wondered if the dreams had been a premonition.  Were the horses the same, or was she adjusting the faint memories of her nightmares to fit the reality she now knew?  At first she believed she was simply adjusting her memory to fit the reality, but since these new dreams had begun she wondered.  What if there was something to the dreams?

The dream showed her a strange chamber.  She didn’t know where it was, but somehow she knew it was very, very old.  Inside there was a slanted platform, covered with a clear crystal penetrated by odd tubes.  Surrounding the strange platform were some kinds of machines, but the purpose was unknown to her.  It was what she saw inside that was so unsettling.  Seven figures lay in depressions under the crystal cover.  Seven figures that had been in the chamber since it was first made.  An eighth depression was empty, and she wondered if that was recent.  Her dreams didn’t tell her.  She couldn’t say why she believed that.  There was nothing in the dream upon which to base such a conclusion. 

Two of the figures under the clear cover appeared twisted and disfigured, and somehow she knew they had died.  The others looked healthy and normal, but seemed to be asleep.  All but one, that is.  That figure, a woman, was clearly awake, but for some reason appeared confined to the depression, unable to escape the chamber.  She was thin and tall, and very fair.  Her skin was unusually white, perhaps from being in the chamber for so long.  Her features were finely formed and attractive, with knowing eyes and lips that pouted and somehow indicated a strength of character.  Her chin was wide and rounded, and combined with the rest of her features suggested a great determination.  The hair was fine and braided, and gathered at the base of the skull, but was of a light lavender color, that appeared wholly appropriate, yet striking in its unusualness.  The eyes were of the same color as the hair.  Mitty was convinced the woman was real.  She was especially disturbed each time in the dream when the woman stopped scanning her surroundings and looked directly out of the dream at Mitty.  Mitty felt chills when that happened and awoke shivering.  She was positive the woman knew she was watching her.

Mitty’s thoughts were interrupted when Nycoh suddenly surprised her.  She had been so lost in her musings that she hadn’t seen the woman approach.

“What’s the matter, Mitty?” Nycoh asked.  “You appear lost.”

Mitty wasn’t ready to speak about the dream.  Maybe to Rigo, or to the Queen, but not to anyone else.

“I feel useless,” she admitted.  “Everyone has something to do.  Everyone is contributing in some way, but I’m just underfoot.  Lyes went back to Sedfair at the Queen’s request.  Now there’s just Fen and myself, and he’s got more things he wants to experiment with than he has time for.  When I ask him to help me, I’m really taking him away from what he wants to do.”

“And you miss Rigo,” Nycoh said.

Mitty’s head snapped up sharply.  “Is it that obvious?” she asked, admitting to her loneliness.

Nycoh smiled.  “It’s been quite obvious to many of us that something is developing between you and Rigo.  For what it’s worth, those of us who are close to Rigo are glad to see it.  He’s been alone far too long.  It’s good to see him show an interest in someone once again.”

Mitty smiled.  Jeen had said much the same thing.  That his closest friends had accepted her and approved was reassuring. 

Nycoh continued, switching subjects.  “I was looking for you.  I think you will be happy with the news I carry.  Queen Rosul has asked for you.  She needs your help and wants you to return to Sedfair immediately.  Rigo will be there as well.  Others are coming home, but he intends to remain until matters settle down.”

“When?  When can I go?” Mitty asked eagerly.

“As soon as you are ready.  The daily messenger will escort you back to Nals.”

Susa adjusted his position in the saddle of the horse as the team rode slowly across the open flats between the two ranges of hills that bordered the Ruins.  The warm wind that blew off the orange sands even this late in the season were a constant reminder of the presence of the foreboding lands and what they represented.  He was tired.  It was a deep tiredness that even a good meal and a full night’s sleep could not erase.  Every day was long lately, and he and his companions had been at this task for far too many days.  The team needed a break, but there was no one to relieve them, and the consequences of their not being here were far too grave to consider.  All Susa knew was that he was too old for this kind of thing, yet after almost a dozen-year’s respite, he was back patrolling the same border, searching for the same Hoplani which threatened his homeland.

Long ago, he’d been the leader of the most effective team that had guarded Lopal’s border against the occasional Hoplani that had made its way past the wizards who sought to destroy all the creatures that threatened the Three Kingdoms.  His team had been made up of men who had mastered the odd ancient language to the point they could properly utter the phrases required to trigger a weak version of the killing magic used by the wizards.  Working in groups, they had been able to destroy the rare lone Hoplani, or a pair of the creatures if the conditions were right.  Their team, and a great many like them had helped keep Lopal safe until the wizards had succeeded in raising the magical barrier that had kept the creatures out for more than a decade.

That was no longer the case.  The barrier that had kept them all safe for so many years was no more, destroyed by an enemy from across the Ruins with powers of magic as capable as the wizards who sought to protect the Three Kingdoms.  Sadly, the numbers of Hoplani were far greater than they had been when Susa last defended the border, and while the number of wizards had grown, the problems they faced meant the numbers were insufficient to keep the herds thinned as they once had.  That was why Susa, and men like him, had been recalled to help. 

New teams were being trained, but that took time, and as before only a fraction of those who attempted to learn the ancient language were successful.  It would have been impossible to train the required number of new guardsmen in time.  Of course, many of those who had served with Susa were no longer effective either.  Many had forgotten the phrases, some on purpose he suspected.  Facing the fearsome Hoplani was not something many men wished to do more than once, and those who had left the Guard and found other pursuits, sometimes resisted the call back.  A surprising number had died for one reason or another, and some simply couldn’t be found.

When his team had been formed, less than half were men he’d known from the past.  As before, he’d been made team leader, and as hoped, the group had fallen into ingrained habit to follow his orders.  Men from the adjacent villages made up the shortfall, and even expanded the team so that it was now more than twice the size of the original teams.  Of course, the range they covered was greater than it had been in those days past.  Then they had traveled on foot, whereas now they rode horses so they could patrol a greater length of border, and move more quickly when the Hoplani were sighted. 

There were other changes.  Now, each man carried a variety of weapons he hadn’t had before.  Most important was the innocent appearing length of wood with the strange symbols engraved into the surface.  Each man carried the short shaft, just a little longer than one’s arm, in a special scabbard over his shoulder.  Susa thought of it as his magic wand.  With the special shaft in hand, the men who once could only create a pitifully weak version of the wizard’s
Brightfire
, now could create a beam that rivaled the power of the less accomplished wizards.  The beams created by each man varied, driven by some inherent ability and the skill and accuracy with which they uttered the triggering phrase, and how well they could focus on the symbols along the shaft of the wand.  Susa didn’t understand it, but the ability to speak the phrase was still as much of a requirement as it had ever been.  The short shaft of marked wood didn’t alter that.  But somehow the symbols were able to amplify the call to the ancient power, and make each man almost as powerful as some of the wizards.  Of course, none of them knew any spells beyond the one, but that was sufficient for the task at hand.  Susa had personally dispatched dozens of the hated Hoplani by himself, something that would have been unthinkable when he’d had this duty years ago.

Of course there were also the Morvane.  Fortunately they were rare, but even with the newly enhanced power, bringing one of them down was not an easy task.  A single blast of the magical
Brightfire
mostly angered the beasts.  Even the combined fire of the entire team sometimes was not enough to do so, even with repeated blasts of power.  That was why they had some of the other weapons.  Across Susa’s back was a strange sword, with an odd bluish blade.  He’d been told the blade was made from the recovered bones of the Hoplani.  He also carried a pair of spears, one beneath either leg in special carriers attached to his saddle.  The tips carried a long blade made of the same material.  Whatever the blades were made of, they had the ability to penetrate the hides of the beasts, both the Hoplani and the Morvane, something no normal sword was able to do.

The first time he’d seen the blades demonstrated, the Lamane himself had come to the borderlands and personally dispatched a pair of the fearsome Hoplani using the spears tipped with the odd blades.  Susa had considered it an act of immense bravery at the time, and had been thrilled that they had a weapon that gave them a chance against the creatures.  That was before he’d learned of the added power provided by the wands.  Os’car had made the appeal for those who had once served, to do so again.  Lopal was threatened, and for as long as was required to repair the magical towers and return the barrier to its normal protective state, men like Susa would have to help protect the kingdom.

Susa noted the remains of the village once called Ferlad as they rode slowly past.  Ferlad, once larger than his own village that still survived and lay a half day’s ride to the south, was a reminder that they hadn’t been as successful as they might have hoped.  Sometimes the Hoplani arrived when they were elsewhere.  That’s what had happened here.  More than two hundred villagers had been killed, while the rest had fled, never to return to the remains of what had once been their homes. 

The fighting remained dangerous despite the improvements in their weapons.  The numbers of the beasts were greater, and while they carried the bracelets with which to call upon the wizards, unlike in the past, they had been told they couldn’t be certain of a response.  It would depend on whether the wizards were already engaged elsewhere.  They might be delayed, or in the worst of cases, not be able to respond at all.  Susa’s team had already experienced the delayed response.  Two weeks earlier they had become engaged with a herd of almost two hundred and fifty of the creatures being led by a Morvane.  The encounter had cost Susa three of his men, with an additional five badly burned and requiring healing when the wizards arrived some five glass later.  The spears with the special blades could kill a Morvane, but when launched with magic, they were far more effective.  The beast was finally killed when one of his men bravely rode straight into the beast, driving the spear deep, but not before he was badly burned with magic from the Morvane which killed the guardsman before he could be healed.  They had been told that special armor that could help protect them from the magical energies released by the beasts was coming, but the teams hadn’t seen any yet.  It took time, and it was already too late for some.

Even worse, sometimes a number of the creatures were able to break through their team, running deeper into Lopal.  Chasing them was not always an option, as other groups of the fearsome creatures were sometimes spotted approaching at the same time, and it was a matter of pursuing the greater threat.  That meant those who lived along the path the escaped creatures followed would have to deal with them on their own.  Susa knew that the cost had sometimes been very great as the creatures destroyed lives and homes in their path.  Susa had heard stories that the beasts could be tamed, and even ridden like horses if one knew the skill, but he didn’t believe it.  They were mindless destructive machines, and he knew that sooner or later, he was likely to be killed by one of them. 

Benni watched as the squad of armed guardsmen rode past his hiding spot as they searched for more of the Chulls.  He’d been in the Three Kingdoms for several days, and was starting to put together a plan that might spread fear and terror throughout the land.  His time here had been difficult because he didn’t understand a word of the language, and had to remain out of sight of the locals as a result.  He’d also had to steal clothing that made him blend in, his own garments far too flamboyant if he wished to remain unnoticed. 

His staff had also been a problem.  Staffs were seldom seen here, and it became apparent that the people had been told to watch for someone carrying one.  He’d been forced to kill one man who had seen him with the power staff, and had hurried off to alert the nearby village of his presence.  Fortunately, Benni had realized what had happened, and had been able to silence the man before any harm was done.  Now he’d cut the staff into two pieces.  The cutting had to be done with great care so as not to interrupt the string of symbols necessary for the most important spells.  He’d had to sacrifice some abilities, as the glyphs flowed across the point where he’d chosen to make the break, rending those spells useless.  He could still make the
Doorways
, and could call upon his
Brightfire
and the balls of magical fire.  Now he carried the two pieces of his staff in a case made for a longbow which he’d stolen.  It fit over his back, and with the small quiver of useless arrows, any he met thought him a simple hunter.

He’d traveled deep into the Three Kingdoms, but found the larger villages too difficult because of his language limitation.  As he’d studied the castles in the capitals of Kellmore and Branid, an idea had started to form.  He’d memorized the internal courtyard of the Branid castle from his vantage point on a nearby hill, and then had returned to the borderlands to see if herds of the restless Chulls could be found.  If a herd could be enticed into a
Doorway
, and released inside the capital city, or even the castle itself, a great deal of damage would result.  The Saltique herself had raised the possibility of using the creatures in this manner.  She’d claimed any means to protect Sedfair from the Three Kingdoms must be considered.  Benni had seen that the borderlands were patrolled against the creatures, but as far inland as the other kingdoms were, they had yet to feel the terror resulting from contact with the beasts.  He was thinking he might be able to alter that complacency. 

He watched as the squad rode farther from his concealed spot.  From his watching the group, they encountered some of the Chulls almost everyday, with a large enough herd for his needs every other day or so.  He decided he’d follow them, and when they encountered the next large group, he’d wait until the herd was charging, then open a
Doorway
right in front of them that exited deep in Branid.  If the technique worked as well as he hoped, he could repeat it many times.  The act would almost certainly come to the attention of any of his countrymen who were in the Three Kingdoms, and thereby might also provide him his way home.