by Blink, Bob
Kaler let his eyes move over Daria to be certain she wasn’t harmed. Then he looked over at Cordale standing across the room.
“He’s still alive?” he asked.
“He’s dead, he just doesn’t know it yet,” Daria said.
Both Cordale and Kaler looked at Daria. “He likes his poisons so much, it seemed fair to allow him to experience one himself. The blade I used on him has been treated. The poison acts too fast actually, but is extremely painful as it settles in. He will be screaming in agony within a quarter glass. His muscles will spasm and might even break a few bones as they do so. There is no known antidote. It will take most of the day, but he won’t live to see the night. We don’t need to stay.”
Cordale touched his neck as if hoping he’d heard wrong, but looking at the eyes of the woman he knew she spoke the truth. Already he could feel something inside, and he trembled at what might be coming.
Daria touched Kaler’s arm, then they walked out of the room, heading down into the courtyard. It didn’t matter if the two men on the wall saw them now. If the guards wanted to contest their leaving, it would be a simple matter to deal with them. Tonight Daria would trigger the bracelet that would bring Rigo. He would be able to verify that Cordale had been dealt with. Then they could go home. She knew that Rigo would have preferred she capture Cordale alive, but she also knew he wouldn’t be surprised by his death. Word would eventually circulate. The legend of Kalabhoot would have another chapter with a warning to those who might consider double crossing the assassin. She didn’t care. At the moment, she was more interested in what she and Kaler would do next.
Chapter 91
The snow, never very heavy this year even after the worst of the storms, was almost gone now. Only in the higher elevations, or on the shaded sides of the mountains, could small drifts still be found. Not that it mattered where the Patrols operated. The hot winds, always from the direction of the Ruins, had prevented any sign of winter to settle into the borderlands where the squads of specially trained soldiers stood watch, day and night, against the sighting of the feared Hoplani.
Susa signaled to the rest of his squad who waited below the crest of the hill. The two Hoplani they had spotted earlier in the day were just over the crest, moving slowly unaware they were being tracked. They were facing away from where Susa had peered over the hill, and wouldn’t see the men when they made their run until it was too late. They would attack in two teams of five. That was the standard approach, and the men knew which group they were in. Five was more than should be required, but it was best to be certain and there had been times in the past where nervousness or carelessness had caused one or more members of the team to fumble the convoluted phrase and fail to generate the magical beam. The extra men in each squad compensated for such accidents. It was why they had ten men to a Patrol team. That and the fact this was dangerous work and someone could be injured or killed. The odds against one weren’t so bad as being a normal foot soldier, because they used ambush and were under strict orders never to take on more than two of the beasts at a time. That’s what the signal bracelets were for. With three or more Hoplani they were to call in the wizards. The one time Susa had done so, they had arrived and dispatched the four beasts his squad had located effortlessly which had caused Susa to be envious of the power they wielded so easily.
His own squad, the second oldest in existence, had an enviable record. Of the forty-six squads now operating, none had taken as many of the Hoplani as they had. They had seventeen kills to their credit, and he hoped to make it nineteen in just a few minutes. They had also only lost two squad members in all that time. Both had been lost during the first two weeks of deployment, before they had gotten over their initial fear of the beasts and what they were doing. For some reason they had an unusual number of encounters early, and by the time the first couple of weeks had passed they were veterans, and very much more comfortable around the massive creatures. They knew they could kill them, so long as they kept their heads and operated as they had been taught.
Sliding forward to take a last look before giving the signal, Susa verified the creatures remained unaware of their presence. He signaled to Hob, who would lead the second group, then pulled his knees up under himself as he prepared for the sudden burst of energy required to push himself up and over the crest. Unconsciously he sought the phrase, although by now it was a simple matter to utter the strange sounds.
Then he signaled, and ten men charged quickly up and over. None yelled as they might have had the enemy been human, partially because a yell would alert the beasts not frighten them, and they needed their breath for the magic they needed to win this encounter. A mere fifteen paces away, the beasts were easy targets, and five beams of impure light blasted forth to strike the creature Susa’s group was responsible for. It stumbled and went down with hardly a sound. In the back of his mind he sensed that only four beams had struck the second creature, but that proved to be sufficient, as that creature also stumbled and collapsed. Susa scanned the second half of the Patrol squad to see who had failed to follow through, and discovered one of the men had tripped and fallen at a critical time. Well, no harm had come of it this time, but he’d have to have a word privately with the man later.
The danger past, the men let loose with wild cries of jubilation. They were the best. Didn’t their kill score prove it was so? They shouted and raised their arms into the air.
Susa walked slowly toward the downed Hoplani, but there was nothing to fear any longer. They were dead, although not cremated as they would have been had one of the wizards blasted them with their Brightfire. There was nothing to do with the creatures. They weren’t good for anything. Nothing was edible in the tough flesh under the hard external armor, not that any would have been inclined to try even if possible. Still, there was something Susa wanted to check. He’d discovered the oddity some weeks back, and he took every opportunity to see if he would find more.
During a particularly close call when one of the two Hoplani had stubbornly refused to go down and had almost blasted one of their members with the magical energy from its horns, the team had vented their anger after they had finally killed the beast by hacking off the head. It had taken some doing, their swords barely up to the task of hacking through the tough outer covering, but when the head had finally fallen free, Susa had noted something gleaming in the dirt. He had picked it up to see what it was and had discovered a crystal, deep purple in color. The crystal was three times as long as it was around, with eight parallel sides. Curious, he’d had the men hack off the head of the second beast, where he discovered another, albeit, much smaller crystal. Since then he’d checked every animal they had killed, and each time he discovered one of the crystals under the skin of the neck. They had dissected one of the creatures to see if other crystals could be found, but they had found only the one. Susa was saving the crystals. He intended to show them to one of the wizards the next time he had to call them for help. There must be a purpose for them, but he’d never heard anyone else mention their existence.
As the celebration of their victory started to die away, Susa moved forward with his sword to begin the beheading. It was best to get to it before the men realized how they were drained from the encounter. Not all of them were as interested in the crystals as him, but so long as he was squad leader, they would do as directed.
Rigo sighed as he returned to his office in the Outpost. He spent a large portion of his time here of late, but they needed every available wizard to keep up with the tasks before them. The number of Hoplani had, if anything, increased over the winter months. Thus far there had not been a repeat of the huge herd that Jeen had obliterated, but often herds in excess of a thousand were spotted. Smaller groups numbering near a hundred were commonplace, and no one knew how many numbering less than a handful made it through. There was simply too much area to be effectively monitored by so few wizards, even with their ability to move from location to location. Rigo now shared the duty with the others, s
pending s few hours a day in the wastelands and always on call against the need for an emergency task force against one of the larger herds.
A disturbing fact had been discovered for which he hadn’t found an answer. Because larger herds were being found, they had tried to teach everyone the linking technique that Jeen had employed to eliminate the massive herd months ago. Rigo and Jeen found initiating a link relatively straightforward. None of the Outpost wizards were able to do so. They could be linked to, which was a relief. They would need that capability when Rigo tried to erect the barrier. But they couldn’t initiate a link. Only Nycoh had the ability. It wasn’t a matter of maturing. All of the wizards that Rigo and Jeen had activated had now reached their full potential and were fully capable with the spells they knew. Rigo, and Daim, wondered if it was somehow related to the fact that they hadn’t been given the full knowledge of magic. Rigo had been tempted to pass on that knowledge, but Daim had cautioned him against it. Daim was more aware of the wizard wars in the past and the fact that wizards were not that much different than Normals. The years of instruction at the Citadel had been geared mostly toward infusing the new wizards with a sense of responsibility and restraint as they gradually added their powers. This group had been granted full level of ability almost instantly, and Daim wasn’t convinced it was wise to grant them access to all of magic so quickly. He hoped for a resurrection of a training facility after the barrier was erected to bring them more slowly up to a full wizard level.
Something needed to be done, Rigo argued, and wanted a test subject to see if their theory was correct. He had gotten Daim to agree to boost Burke to full knowledge of known magic. That was to happen this afternoon. Since Burke was fully matured magically, it would only be a day or so while the new knowledge integrated before they would know if he gained the ability.
In addition to the daily check of the Ruins, occasional calls took a wizard disposal team to Lopal to assist any Patrol that encountered one of the small herds that had escaped the protective net Rigo and his fellow wizards had tried to erect. The largest group that had been discovered in Lopal thus far was a small group of fifteen of the animals. They had managed to destroy a small border village before being eliminated, reminding everyone what they faced. The Patrols had been a lifesaver, and were now growing rapidly as the number with the ability to use the verbal magic had swelled. Had it not been for the men patrolling the border of Lopal, Rigo’s wizards would have been unable to keep up.
He had just come from a check of the base towers at either end of the long string. The two massive towers hummed with power, ready to pass their magical energies to the towers spread throughout the Ruins and replace the barrier that had been down for so many centuries. Rigo had felt the need to run a check, since they were the critical element. Other members of the wizard team checked the other towers each day as part of their duties in the Ruins, but the end two were most important.
They had made progress. For a time it hadn’t seemed like they would. The gains they made from the disclosure of magic had been overturned by losses of members to the Hoplani herds. As it was, Rigo was disappointed by the number of new wizards, certain there should be more. He knew, but couldn’t prove, that Lopal was holding back. Rigo knew it wasn’t I’Vorris. The Lamane knew the importance of erecting the barrier. Rigo was certain that many of the leaders had the mistaken idea they could build their own force of wizards that might someday challenge Rigo and his fellows. It was a foolish dream. Without activation, they would never advance, and they would never learn the range of skills that Daim had brought from the past. It had taken thousands of years initially for the wizards of old to discover those skills. Lopal was effectively embarking on a path to try and repeat that history.
The real change had come through Daria and her relationship with the Wanderers. As the awareness of magic had spread, she had been contacted by the Wanderers, and two youngsters they had among them had been brought to her. They both had proven strong in the gift. She had pressed them to search wherever they traveled and seek more who might have the ability. The majority of the new recruits had come from their efforts.
Now, they potentially had two more wizards than would be required. It wasn’t certain yet, as the newest had to have time to mature and verify their skills while being linked were strong enough. A few more weeks and they would have enough that they could begin practice, and perhaps within a week of that actually erect the barrier. Then the worst would be over.
Thinking of the Wanderers brought Rigo’s thoughts back to Daria and Kaler. When Daria had triggered the bracelet, Rigo had dropped everything and sped to the location it signaled, fearful that something might have happened to his friends. He had found them having dinner in a comfortable inn, in no danger whatsoever.
“We’ve already ordered for you,” Daria said smugly when he realized there was no danger.
“Cordale?” he’d asked automatically.
“Dead, or will be shortly,” she’d replied. Rigo had glanced toward Kaler, who had nodded his agreement.
“We’ll go have a look after dinner,” Daria said.
During the course of the meal, Rigo had become aware of a subtle change in the relationship between his two friends. At first he wasn’t certain, but by the time the meal was finished, there was little doubt. He shot a questioning glance at Kaler as they were leaving, and he smiled and nodded.
They made a Bypass directly to the estate where Cordale had hidden. The remaining guards had fled, most likely taking whatever wealth Cordale had stashed away. In his quarters, Cordale had fared poorly. His neck was swollen and blackish, with dark veins spider-webbing away from the small cut where Daria had injected the poison. His hands and face were bloated, and it was too soon to be a result of normal death. He had taken his own life at some point, unless one of the guards had done so, but the knife lying on the floor next to his body suggested he had done so himself. Rigo had insisted they bring the body back to Sulen where Rhory could decide what he wanted done with the remains. It might be important for the people to know their temporary king had met his deserved fate.
As a result of their efforts and success in bringing Cordale to justice, Kaler was knighted. Sir Kaler! Despite the fact Daria had been the primary motivator in the search, women were not generally recognized as warriors. Usaya was very displeased with the situation and was pressuring Rhory with the importance of recognizing her contribution, when Daria quietly asked her to let it be. Daria preferred the shadows, and after years of hiding who she was, didn’t wish to be so publicly known.
Now Kaler and Daria were back in southern Kellmore. They had spent a couple of weeks with his eldest brother, and now were visiting his middle sibling at the monastery. Rigo could see where this was leading, and was happy for his friends.
His own personal life was basically on hold. He couldn’t see any change until the barrier was in place. Given he had a couple of weeks, he decided he should take a few days and make the rounds of the various leaders. He hadn’t seen Rhory or I’Vorris in some time, and he shouldn’t allow too much time to pass between visits. Jeen would be visiting King Arotho of Kellmore later this week, and he should probably go along. Of all the rulers, he’d had the least interaction with Kellmore’s leader.
As he prepared to leave for Sulen, he took a moment to change into his more stately robes. He didn’t know exactly what had driven him to have them made some weeks before, certainly something planted in his mind by Daim, but he’d come to prefer the distinctive garment to other clothing. He’d noticed several others copying his lead. Perhaps they should set rules, and copy the styles and colors based on level and rank as had been the practice in Daim’s time. The unique garment certainly identified to everyone that they were wizards, now considered a good thing.
Chapter 92
This deep in the Ruins one truly felt the strangeness of the place, Rigo thought as he stood upon the hill looking even deeper into the hostile and forbidding land. What might be out there and
how far did the Ruins actually extend? The reddish color was even more pronounced here, and one could feel the magical energies nipping at one. A Normal would have no chance surviving this far into the wasteland, and he wondered how long even a wizard would remain unaffected. Not too far away Burke cursed softly. He didn’t like it here either. Burke, Kela, and five of the more powerful wizards had come with Rigo. They had used the memories Daim supplied of this place to create the Bypass.
The trip had been undertaken after careful consideration, but the recent lull in the Hoplani herds had caused everyone to wonder if they had finally seen an end to the creatures for a time, which would have taken some of the pressure off their activities. The aggressive search and destroy activities might have finally paid off. Today they had come the equivalent of ten days by horseback into the wasteland, the farthest that Daim had ever been, although Rigo could find references to readings that the Master Wizard had done in his own time that suggested wizards had gone more than twice that distance. That had been in the time when attempts were being made to destroy the Hoplani; long before the towers were first erected.
“There’s nothing out here,” Kela announced after they had taken time to look around. “It’s completely deserted.”
“How much farther do you think we need to search?” Burke asked. This had been the fourth location they had stopped, all of them roughly on a north south line paralleling the border of Lopal. Burke was now the third or fourth most powerful wizard known, behind Rigo, Nycoh, and Jeen. Burke’s ranking compared to Jeen depended on what skills were considered, but in terms of combat abilities he was probably stronger.