Once outside the library doors, Telsa stopped on the stairs and leaned against the elaborately carved, white-stone guardrail. It was positioned in a manner to prevent careless pedestrians from falling off the stairway without detracting from the beauty of the library’s architecture. One look over the side, to the ground fifteen meters below, convinced her that the railing was needed considering the number of elf children she’d seen visiting the library.
“Actually, it is fourteen point seven meters to the ground,” said Raj in their shared space.
“Thanks for the update. I’m not sure I could’ve made it the rest of the day wondering exactly how far it was.”
“Then it is a good thing I told you, Wizard Scout.”
Telsa wondered in her private space if it might be nice having a battle computer that understood sarcasm. Facing to the north, she took in the single-story, white-stone buildings that made up the majority of Silverton. The low structures gave a clear shot of a blue-roofed, hundred-meter-tall, white obelisk that was blackened in spots. She knew the black spots were from the scorching blasts of energy used during the attack on the Tree of Light two weeks earlier.
“I’m surprised the elves haven’t painted it white to cover up that smoke damage,” Telsa said. “They’ve repaired most of the other damage from the demon’s attack.”
“Oh, I gather from listening to the conversations of the elves you have been around that they will not be painting the black marks on that obelisk or the damage on the other three either. The elves’ mages have spells at their disposal that could easily return the stone to its original condition.”
Telsa turned slowly to look at the other three obelisks. The one to the east had a red roof; the southern obelisk had a green roof; and the western obelisk’s top was yellow. The white stone of the other obelisks was only slightly less discolored than their blue companion to the north. “I’d think if they could repair the damage with a simple spell that they’d have done it already.”
Once again, Telsa thought she detected a hint of emotion from her battle computer. It was barely discernable, but this time she was almost certain it was there. Is Raj being emotionally corrupted? she wondered in her private space.
“First off, Wizard Scout, I calculate no spell is simple. From what I have read, an elf child studies magical writing for almost a hundred years before they are allowed to cast their first spell. As for why they haven’t repaired the damage to the obelisks, I heard Leethor tell his children the obelisks would remain as they were to be a reminder for future generations that they should never let their guard down. He told them an attack by forces of evil could occur at any time or anywhere.”
Telsa laughed. “You’ve been eavesdropping again, haven’t you?”
“Humph,” said Raj. “I do not eavesdrop. Can I help it if the amplifiers on your battle helmet are so sensitive they can pick up whispers from a hundred meters away?”
“Forget it,” Telsa said, knowing she couldn’t win the argument. She started down the stairs toward the white cobblestone street below. “Enough dillydallying, as Nickelo would say. I’ve got things to do.”
Once on the street, Telsa headed toward Silverton’s center. A family of elves, two adults, and a child appearing to be about five or six in human years, passed going in the opposite direction. The two adults nodded politely. The child smiled and waved. Telsa waved back.
“I don’t know what Therso was talking about,” Telsa commented to her battle computer. “The elves seem friendly enough to me. I’m human, and I don’t see any signs of prejudice.”
“I calculate you do not for several reasons,” replied Raj. “First off, you are short for a human adult. Based upon the reactions of adult elves in your presence, there is an eighty-four percent probability they think of you more as a tall gnome than they do a small human.”
“I don’t look anything like a gnome. I’ve seen several over the years, what with my trip back in time with Rick to stop the Dragars from sacrificing unborn dragons.”
“Nevertheless, I am just informing you of the probabilities. A second reason for their acceptance of you is your battle suit. Face it, even deactivated as it is and with your helmet in half mode, you stand out in a crowd. You are instantly recognizable as an associate of Wizard Scout Shepard’s.”
“Whatever,” Telsa said, growing more than a little bored with the conversation.
“Do you want to hear my third reason?”
“Not particularly,” Telsa said before Raj could get started.
“Humph,” said Raj. “That is what I get for trying to provide useful information. Speaking of useful information, your course is not taking you to the Academy of Healing building. It is farther to the east.”
“Shows what you know,” Telsa laughed. “I’m not going to see Terrie yet. I want to find Rembis. The gnome magic user should be at the Mages Guild around this time. I’d like to pick his brain about the yellow gem. I think I’ll ask about rifts while I’m at it.”
A map of Silverton appeared in the shared space of Telsa’s mind. A green path went from her current location to a building she knew was the Mages Guild.
“What’s the map for?” Telsa asked. “Are you afraid I’ll get lost?” She sensed an emotion in her shared space that was unusual for her battle computer. “Hey. Did you just laugh, or am I imagining things?”
“It must have been your imagination. I am a computer. I do not laugh. I also do not get afraid. I do, however, get concerned. As it so happens, I am concerned you are not taking the most efficient route to the Mages Guild, so I plotted a recommended course on a map for you.”
“Very kind, but also very dull,” Telsa replied. “We’re in a city full of elves. Where’s your sense of adventure. We may never get to experience anything like this again. Look at the buildings. Leethor and Meshoan told me a lot of them are tens of thousands of years old. A few are almost a hundred thousand. Despite their age, they appear nearly new.”
“Preservation spells,” replied Raj. “It is an efficient way to build things. The elves build something well once and keep it in good shape for as long as it is useful. Of course, that would never work with humans or a lot of the races in the physical dimension.”
Telsa stopped in the middle of the cobblestone road to admire a small shop made of white stone and embedded with glow-stone chips. The small chips reflected the afternoon sun, making the walls of the building explode with every color of the rainbow as she moved her head.
“What do you mean it wouldn’t work with humans?” Telsa said. She suspected her battle computer was making a snide comment about her species, but she wasn’t exactly sure how.
“What I mean is that preserving buildings, or preserving anything for that matter, is not in a human’s nature. Your species is too commercial. The entire economy of your race depends on manufacturing and building things. If humans made things too good and preserved them with spells, before long, all the manufacturing plants would close down. People would lose their jobs. Chaos would ensue.”
Telsa frowned. “That hasn’t happened here. The elves seem to be getting along fine.”
“True,” admitted Raj. “On the other hand, Portalis is a special case. It has been stuck in what would be considered the middle ages back on Earth for a hundred thousand years. Based upon what I have discovered reading the planet’s history at the library, any time things start to advance too much, either a natural disaster or some big invasion sets things back.”
“I repeat, that hasn’t happened here in Silverton,” Telsa said, determined to win the argument. “Like I told you, some of these buildings are a hundred thousand years old.”
“The elves have maintained a static population for tens of thousands of years,” said Raj. “Their birthrate is low compared to humans. I calculate that is one of the reasons for their animosity against your species. As the human population has grown, the elves have been pushed out of their territory. Wars have been fought in the past for that very reason.”
Telsa looked at the growing crowd of elves on the road as they walked to conduct whatever business elves did. “I see several children on the street. I’ve seen a lot during the two weeks I’ve been here, so I’m not sure I buy your theory about elves not being prolific.”
Raj laughed.
Telsa recognized it as the canned laughter battle computers sometimes used to appease humans’ need for humor. It wasn’t the emotional laughter she thought she’d felt earlier.
“For a genius who has spent the last week at the library, you sure miss a lot when you read,” Raj said. “The birthrate of the elves has been increasing over the last five hundred years. I have read about previous increases of birthrates in the histories at the library. They have always preceded a period of war.”
“What’s that?” Telsa asked. “Are you saying the elves are having more children because war is coming?”
“Based upon other cycles of birthrate increases, I would say that is a logical conclusion. Take the elves Leethor and Meshoan, for instance. They already have two children with another on the way. A thousand years ago, an elf family with three children was unheard of. About five hundred years ago, the birthrate for the elves started to increase. High Priestess Jeehanathoraxen’s family was one of the first to have three children. Now it is more common. The first of the children born in the birthrate increase are now of military age. I calculate the younger children may be replacements for those who are killed in whatever calamity is headed the elves’ way.”
Telsa didn’t want to consider what might be heading the elves’ way. She supposed it was because she knew that whatever it was, it was also headed for her human race. Turning, she began walking the most efficient route to the Mages Guild as recommended by her battle computer. She no longer felt like sightseeing.
Twenty minutes later found Telsa standing outside a squat, black-stoned building.
“Are you sure this is the place, Raj? It’s not even twenty meters square. From what I heard, the guild has dozens of children training on most days.” Telsa leaned forward, peering closer at the building. “For that matter, it doesn’t even have a door.”
Before her battle computer could reply, a white-haired gnome wearing a black robe walked out of the center of the wall nearest the street. The gnome’s wide belt was stuffed with a half-dozen wands along with a small dagger. The butt of the handle on the dagger contained a blue gem. A necklace in the shape of an eye with a red gem for the iris adorned the gnome’s neck.
“Rembis,” Telsa said. “Just the gnome I wanted to see.”
Rembis smiled. His blue eyes sparkled with just the hint of mischievousness Telsa associated with gnomes of all ages.
“Telsa,” said the old gnome. “Well met. When our guards saw you approaching, they sent word right away. They assumed you were coming to see me.”
Reaching out with her passive scan, Telsa searched for any signs of invisible guards. She found none.
Raj spoke to her in their shared space. “If their stealth shields are good enough, then you would not spot them.”
While Telsa had a high regard for elves in general, she’d been around them enough during the past two weeks to know their stealth shields were nowhere near as good as that of a wizard scout’s. She kept her opinion to herself anyway. The last thing she wanted was a lecture from Raj on types of stealth shields.
Glancing left and right before looking back at the gnome, Telsa said, “Guards? I don’t see any guards.”
Laughing, Rembis waved a hand at the black building. “That’s because there aren’t any out here. They are inside the dimensional pocket, using scrying devices. If you had been an enemy, you would’ve been met by a dozen guards and mages instead of me.”
“Hmm,” Telsa said. “I’m afraid that I’m not exactly sure what a dimensional pocket is.”
Grinning, Rembis bowed before turning toward the black wall. “Then allow me to show you. Uh…that is if you have the time.”
More than a little curious, Telsa grinned back. “Oh, I’ve got the time. In fact, your guards assumed right. I did come to see you. So lead the way. We can talk while you give me the grand tour.”
Waving a hand in the air, Rembis said a word Telsa heard but quickly forgot. The black wall turned slightly translucent as the gnome stepped through. She followed close on his heels, unsure what she’d find on the other side, and felt a cold tingle as she passed through. Two steps later found her in a brightly lit chamber two hundred meters in length and half as wide.
In the area immediately in front of the doorway sat half a dozen elves in black robes concentrating on round globes twice the size of basketballs. In the globe closest to her, Telsa saw the street outside the black building. Four elves wearing chainmail and carrying spears and shields stood on either side of the six mages. She noticed another dozen guards off to the side, sitting at a table. Their spears and shields were leaning against the wall, but each of them still wore a longsword on their hip. She sensed magic coming from all the guards’ weapons and armor.
“The entire place reeks of magic,” said Raj. “I’d be on my best behavior if I were you.”
“Aren’t I always?” Telsa said in their shared space.
“Most of the time,” conceded Raj. “However, I calculate some of Wizard Scout Shepard’s bad habits have rubbed off on you over the years.”
Telsa smiled. She didn’t think that was a bad thing.
Rembis spoke with one of the guards. The gnome motioned Telsa to follow as he walked between two metal posts. Once again she felt a cold tingle until she was on the other side. Glancing back over her shoulder at a globe near the two posts, she saw an outline of her body similar to the output from security sniffers at spaceports or other high-security facilities. Her weapons were outlined in red while her battle helmet glowed orange on the image.
Rembis laughed. “I think your battle computer has confused our security spell. It’s not sure whether it is a weapon or harmless.”
The black-robed elf mage sitting at the table holding the security globe eyed Rembis. “Are you vouching for her?”
“Yes, yes,” replied Rembis as he grabbed Telsa’s arm and dragged her behind him. “She’s a wizard scout. She’s with me.”
The gnome passed a large set of black-stone stairs leading downward. Globes of white light embedded in the ceiling of the stairs allowed Telsa to see all the way to the bottom.
“It must go down at least two hundred meters,” Telsa said. “How big is this place?”
Rembis waved his hand at the inside of the building. “I told you, this is a dimension pocket. It’s as big as the spellcasters need it to be. Administrative offices and some of the more classified areas are ten floors below us. The rooms above them are libraries, classrooms, training areas, and things of that sort. What I wanted to show you, though, is over there.” The gnome pointed at the far left corner of the first floor. Thanks to the light globes in the ceiling twenty meters above, Telsa was able to make out the entire area easily enough.
A group of fifty elf children in sets of two were lined up in the center of the first floor, facing one another. The elf children wore gray robes with white belts. As an adult elf in a black robe approached the first pair of children, one of the gray-robed elf children raised a hand and shouted a word Telsa quickly forgot. She sensed energy form in the child’s hand before shooting out at the second elf child. The second elf raised his hands and formed a shield of magic energy. The incoming ball of energy ricocheted off, heading straight for Rembis and her. Reflexively, Telsa drew Power from her reserve and formed a shield to her front. The child’s spell never reached her defensive shield. It hit a wall of magic a dozen paces to her front.
Laughing, Rembis pointed at the shield of magic. “Give us a little credit, Wizard Scout. That shield is strong enough to absorb even ninth level spells. The center area where the novices are practicing is our primary hands-on training area. Even our master mages practice there. The shield of magic is refre
shed every day by our best mages. If it wasn’t, I dare say walking around the first floor would be more than a little hazardous.”
Telsa dropped her defensive shield to conserve Power. “No kidding. I sensed the shield with my passive scan, but I didn’t want to take any chances. Is this what you wanted to show me? The children training, I mean.”
Shaking his head, Rembis said, “No, although it is interesting in its own right. What I wanted to show you is a little experiment I set up in the far left corner of the room.”
The word experiment drew Telsa’s curiosity more than anything she’d seen thus far. The challenge of creating logical experiments to prove or disapprove theories had always fascinated her. She followed the old gnome as he weaved his way past pairs of younger elves in gray robes being supervised by older black-robed elves.
Telsa pointed at the sparing elves. “Assuming the elves in the gray robes are the novices, you’ve got a lot of students. I count a good hundred just on this floor alone.”
Nodding his head, Rembis stopped and looked back at her. “You assume right. The beginners wear white robes. They are still studying reading and writing of magic spells. I am told it normally takes a hundred years or so for the beginners to advance to earn their gray robes as a novice. Then and only then are they allowed to begin casting the simplest of spells.” He smiled at Telsa. “The elves spend many years becoming mages. I suppose that’s why they are considered the best. Of course…”
When the gnome remained silent, Telsa prodded him on. “Of course what?”
“Oh, you know. As good as they are, they are nowhere near as competent as the elves were during the time I was born twenty thousand years in the past. The height of their skill was a hundred thousand years ago. The elves nowadays don’t even know how to protect the links to their Power reserves.”
Telsa unconsciously sensed the link to her Power reserve. Dozens of locks and traps lined the link protecting weak points. She silently thanked her friend Rick for taking the time to beef up her defenses. “Well, to be honest, the links of most wizard scouts aren’t protected either. As far as I know, only Rick knows how to defend or break links.”
Wizard Defender (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 8) Page 6