by Bob Blink
“Cheurt comes and goes all the time.”
“Maybe he knows something you wouldn’t. You have to admit there’s a risk.”
“Maybe a small one. I think I’d know if I could return before I left.”
“I’ll bet your ancestor thought the same thing.”
“Shyar. What’s this about?”
“If you got trapped there, I’d never see you again.”
“Why are we worrying about something that we can’t even do. If we find a way to cross the Nexus, then maybe this conversation might make some sense.”
“It tells me what you feel is important. Are you willing to risk the future we might have to go?”
Uh-oh. Just as he’d thought. This wasn’t a good place to be.
“Okay. Let’s make a deal. If we find a way to make the trip to Earth, you and I will go together. That way, if we get stuck, we’ll be stuck there together.”
“Promise?”
“I promise,” he answered, and was pleased when she snuggled a bit closer and turned her lips up to be kissed.
He had just thrown the answer out without thinking, but the more he considered it, he would like to take her back to Earth and show her what it was like. He knew they’d want to return to Gaea, assuming it were possible, but it would make a return to Earth much more fun.
Chapter 70
“They’re right over there, just standing still. They’re prefect targets. We should take ‘em right now while we have a chance.”
“Don’t be stupid,” said Toran. “They’re right next to the King’s Guard station. We start something now and we’ll have the lot of them to deal with, not to mention who knows how many of the mages that hang out here. Let’s wait and see if we can get them a bit further away from help. I’d like to do this and walk away without having to fight my way free.”
Toran was constantly amazed at how much Paril wanted to get into a fight. He’d been flexing his muscles for the entire trip, and would clearly love to have at it right here, Dragondamn the consequences. It was a good thing he was in charge or they’d have already tried some stupid plan. He would have to have a talk with Cheurt about this one when they got home.
“They’re headed to the park,” said Deild as he returned from the spot where he’d been listening to the two men Toran was watching. Toran liked Deild. He was nowhere near as powerful as Paril, but he had a lot of good ideas that he would share when asked. Otherwise he kept quiet. He also listened, and followed instructions to the letter.
“The park? You mean the one by the ocean a couple of blocks from here?”
“That’s the one,” answered Deild. “They were talking about someplace called the lookout.”
“I know it,” said Cerkim. “I’ve been there before. This time of day it shouldn’t be too busy. There’s a good spot on the trail nearby. We could do it there.”
Although he felt uneasy about leaving the two men unwatched, he had faith in Deild. If he said he’d overheard the men were planning to go to the park, then it was true. They’d need to go now if they were to get in place and set something up. Toran hated impromptu battles. He’d stayed alive by proper planning and knowing the territory he was going to fight in.
“They’’ll catch up soon enough,” said Rifod. “We can start now and they’ll only be a few minutes behind. If we don’t, someone else might get the spot.”
Jolan thought that unlikely in the middle of the week. It would be different if today had been one of the two-days. This had all started a short time ago when Rifod and Nerila had announced their plans to be married at the winter break. They had just recently decided against waiting the additional years required to complete their mages training and wanted to share the good news with their friends. The announcement had started the chant for a party, and within minutes plans were being made, resulting in a group of ten student-mages who decided to ditch the rest of the day’s classes and head over to the park for a celebration. While a couple of the guys went for ale, others set off for snacks and blankets to sit on. It was a fine fall day, with the sun warm and gentle breezes for a change. Jolan was disappointed that Shyar was off campus today, and wouldn’t be there. Rifod grabbed his arm after one of the women spirited Nerila away, and suggested they go stake out a spot. The others would catch up soon enough.
“We should wait for them, or at least take a few of the guards along. You know as well as I do what the standing procedure has been.”
“Nothing has happened for months. You really think something is going to happen in the middle of the day when no one would expect us to leave the College?”
Jolan suspected the lack of any action was explained more by the distances involved and the time it would take news to get back to Ale’ald and for someone else to make the return trip, than by lack of interest on the part of his enemy. Based on what he could get from various people about travel times, he figured about two weeks ago would have been the earliest someone could have arrived. That meant now was probably the time to start being a bit more careful, not less so.
“You shouldn’t be worried. I’m the weak one. With your exalted level and that staff, nobody could hurt you.”
That wasn’t strictly true, although he did have a pretty impressive shield now, and he had a trick up his sleeve if needed. Still, Rifod wasn’t the one they would be targeting.
“Let’s go Jolan,” urged Rifod. “You can see some of the others coming out of the rooms already. They’ll be right behind us.”
Against his better judgement, Jolan let his friend’s enthusiasm carry him along. It was Rifod’s day after all. He was right. It was unlikely anyone would anticipate their leaving the campus this time of day and be in any position to take advantage of the situation. He wasn’t sure why he felt particularly uneasy today. He’d been out on his own several times of late, as recent as last two-day in fact.
Somewhat against his own judgement, Toran allowed Paril to fill the chaser position. While he, Cerkim and Deild waited a bit farther north where they expected the attack to take place; he left Paril further south. The plan was to allow Jolan and his friend to move past Paril’s position, and then when they walked into range, the three men at the north would attack suddenly. Paril would plug the escape at the rear, and if the two men weren’t advancing as hoped, could initiate an attack driving them into the waiting ambush. It wasn’t perfect, but given how few people were in the park today, they could adapt as necessary. The key was they had time to attack, and would be able to be long gone before anyone could respond. With the four of them, they had a two-to-one advantage that also added to their flexibility.
Toran didn’t like the low rolling hills that the pathway followed, and would be very glad when their targets cleared the small hill a little ahead of Paril’s position. He could see Paril in the bush off to the side of the walkway, but the men on the trail were just out of sight below a small roll in the hillside. Once they walked over the small crest they would remain in view the remainder of the way up the path to the attack position. Paril had instructions to allow them to pass his position, and then stay put but ready until Toran started the attack. Only if Toran signaled him to initiate an attack was he to do so. That would happen only if Toran decided the men needed to be herded by Paril, something he considered unlikely. The line of sight had been chosen so Paril could see Toran while he was hidden from view of anyone on the pathway. None of Toran’s team had raised their shields, not wanting to reveal their presence until the attack actually began. Moments before the men had passed Paril, but they had yet to clear the small rise and come into view. Toran wondered what was happening and hoped that Paril wouldn’t do something stupid. The man appeared to be looking toward the two hidden men, and also back down the pathway as if looking at something Toran couldn’t see. He hadn’t looked his way in several minutes.
“Let’s wait here for them,” Jolan said pointing to the cluster of friends that were coming up the pathway two hundred yards or so behind them.
“Might as well,” agreed Rifod. “They’ve almost caught up anyway now.”
Jolan turned and looked back down the pathway and watched as their friends headed towards them. He raised his hand to wave when he felt a shield spring into existence off to his side and a short distance down the little rise they were standing on. He was turning to look, bringing up his own shield, the standard one, not the shield-pair he’d developed, as quickly as he could. He started to warn Rifod, but sensed the man’s shield spring into life, lagging his own action slightly.
He’d just located the spot where he sensed the shield when an intensely bright energy beam, the bluish-white light highly concentrated, sprang into existence and flashed their way. Initially he thought it was intended for him, but it swept past his side and slammed into Rifod, overpowering the man’s weaker shields immediately and blasting Rifod, throwing him to one side off the trail. Jolan had initiated his own attack the instant he’d seen the beam come into existence, using the powerful fire-wrap spell, stronger now because of his advancement in level, and upgraded by the added strength of the staff. The spinning band of reddish fire engulfed the attacker, tearing into what seemed to be a level six strength shield.
One thing the staff did was allow him to get an idea of the relative strength of shields. He couldn’t measure the exact strength, but he’d experimented with sensing the shields of different mages. It wasn’t an accurate test since mages of a given level showed considerable variability in their shield strength, but it gave him some idea of the relative levels. Luzoke’s shields were very strong, and this fell short of that. But it was stronger than the level five shield that Ward had erected for him.
Since Jolan was a level five and the staff added at least two equivalent levels, the man’s shields had no chance of standing up to the intense fire-wrap, and failed almost as fast as Rifod’s had when the beam hit them. Jolan could sense the failure as he turned to check on his friend.
It was worse than he’d feared. He hurried to Rifod’s side, but he knew there was nothing he was going to be able to do. The blast had torn off Rifod’s right side, spilling his intestines and massive amounts of blood and gore onto the grass where the man lay, his right arm literally stripped of flesh with the bone and strips of torn muscle clearly visible. Jolan could hear the sounds of running feet, and he knew his friends were running their way, the shields of each mage clearly marked in his mind. He could also sense three additional shields, these a bit to the north, now moving away, although moments before they’d been coming his way. More attackers he realized, but they’d seen the group of mages, and seeing how badly outnumbered they were had turned away.
Kneeling beside his dying friend, Jolan wished there was something he could do. He couldn’t heal a major cut under the best of circumstances, but he knew even the best of the medical mages wouldn’t have a chance against something like this.
Rifod’s eyes fluttered briefly open, and he whispered, “Tell Nerila. . .”
Nerila would be here in moments and Jolan couldn’t bear the thought of her finding Rifod dead like this. They’d just decided to wed this very day, and now he was taken from her. He reached down with his left hand to grasp the left hand of his friend, hoping to at least signal his presence as the man passed. As his hand grasped Rifod’s he felt a sharp tingling sensation, and was aware of a sudden surge in the flow of power. Rifod’s hand clenched his own, probably just a muscle reaction Jolan thought, but then Jolan saw the faint bluish light in the ring on his hand suddenly swell and glow with an intense light, the rays seeming to burst from the surface and wrap around Rifod’s body. Unbelievably, as he watched, the damaged flesh seemed to pull back upon itself, sliding back into position, the wounds closing as he watched and the sagging skin rapidly filling as new flesh regenerated and made Rifod whole. Within seconds, Rifod looked as if he’d never been struck, although the blood and gore still covered the ground around him. Even as Jolan knelt, disbelieving what he was seeing, Rifod took a sudden deep breath, and opened his eyes. The bluish glow from the ring faded just as the first of his friends came running up the pathway. Nerila was among the first to arrive, screaming as she saw the blood and dropping down beside Rifod, hugging him close as he smiled weakly at her to signify he was alright.
“Keep down,” Jolan shouted to the others. “There are others still out there.”
“Keep an eye on Rifod,” he said unnecessarily. “Send someone for the medical-mages, but stay down out of sight. Only leave here if you sense someone coming. I think there are three more.”
“What are you going to do?” someone asked.
Jolan didn’t know who because he wasn’t paying much attention. Anger had overtaken him. He was almost beyond reason. They had tried to kill him again, and had almost taken his friend. He was still seeing in his mind the horror he had been feeling knowing how Nerila was going to react when she came and saw the shattered body of Rifod. Thank God she’d been spared that. Jolan knew the attackers would try again. They were running away now because they were badly out-numbered. No matter how strong they were, a dozen mages were too many to be sure of the outcome.
He already knew he was going after them. He had an idea, and they needed to pay for today. He had a couple of advantages. He was stronger than any of the three, at least in terms of the shields he’d sensed. He could also hide in a way they didn’t realize. He couldn’t handle all of them at once, but when he saw where they had gone he had an idea he wanted to try. If he could split them up, then he had a chance.
“Tell Luzoke I’ve gone after them,” he said. Luzoke had strong shields and very powerful beams. He would be of help. The two of them could easily down any of the men he’d sensed. The others would only be putting themselves in grave danger.
“Don’t be stupid,” someone said, but Jolan was already on the move.
He started up the path, then slipped off to the side and into the bushes. Once he was out of sight, he dropped his shield and brought up the shield-pair. Now he was protected, but they wouldn’t sense him coming. Now he was the hunter. The change in role felt good.
He moved through the brush, using the techniques he’d learned in the mountains while hunting deer and elk. He wasn’t the best, but he suspected the wizards had never felt the need to learn much woodcraft, and would be relying on their sensing the power to know if danger approached. Quickly he scrambled up the hill in the direction they had gone, and where he could still faintly sense the three shields. It took him five minutes to close the distance and see the men walking slowly along the path. They were right where he’d hoped. He dropped the shield-pair, and raised his standard shield. He wanted them to know he was there now, and grinned as they suddenly turned and looked in his direction.
He knew they could sense he was alone, and waited to be sure they started his way. They must have wondered how he had approached unseen, but the only conclusion they would be able to reach was that he’d dropped all shields to make his unseen approach. In their minds it was three-to-one. The math was simple and they jumped at the odds.
He moved a bit inland, found a spot that he couldn’t be seen and waited. His mind reached out and started pulling molecules of oil from the pools of gooey tar, building an almost invisible cloud in the air off to the left and a bit behind the three men. He made sure liberal amounts of air were being added to the mix as the cloud grew. It was visible now, but their attention was on where he’d slipped behind the rocks, and where they still sensed his shield.
Through a slit in the rock Jolan could see that two were starting to circle off to the right, and one was a bit more inland. They still had a long way to come, but they knew he was still here, and alone. He figured he had enough now, and he didn’t want the cloud any closer. He wasn’t sure just how this was going to work.
Thermobaric was the term he remembered. A fuel-air bomb. From the videos he’d seen, the force generated was truly astounding. He now had all the ingredients in place. All he needed was a good spark. That would be easy
for him. Shields as strong as he could make them, he dived into a small hollow behind the rocks, and hoped his friends had followed his advice to stay down. He sent a spell of concentrated fire into the cloud, and was stunned by the force of the blast and light that resulted from the detonation. The ground lurched and it felt as if a small earthquake had stuck. Trees were ripped from the ground and those that managed to stay standing had the leaves shredded and torn from the branches. Rocks and dirt hissed through the air, and the pieces that smashed into his rock barrier sounded like incoming weapons fire. Jolan was glad that this section of the park had been free from people. He’d checked carefully as he’d made his way up the hill, using every sense he had available.
The blast took the three men completely by surprise. Two of them were swept into the air and blasted off the edge of the cliffs, falling to the water far below and well off from shore. One shield winked out suddenly, so the bomb apparently had been strong enough to overcome the shield of the weaker of the two wizards. Jolan suspected the shield of the remaining wizard would protect him from the fall, but he’d be a bit battered regardless, and maybe he couldn’t swim. The current here would be dragging him away from land and out to sea. He’d have to have his wits about him if he was to make it back to shore.
The third man, the one who had been starting to circle off to the left was flung violently through the air as well, but he wasn’t thrown off the cliffs. Jolan could sense him flying through the air and landing a hundred yards off to his side. Now to lead that one someplace he could take care of him.
Jolan set off at a run, his shield letting the man know where he was going. Jolan knew he would have a few minutes to create a bit of a lead while the man regained his senses. Jolan had been ready and protected from the blast. The remaining attacker hadn’t been prepared at all. The incredible strength of the shield was the only reason he was alive.