by Bob Blink
Wizard’s Blood
(Part Two)
Bob Blink
Chapter 90
Far away from where Jolan rode northward, in another part of the Settled Lands, a frustrated and angry Shyar paced back and forth in her cell. It had taken them months of travel, but the wizards had finally brought her all the way from Angon to Ale’ald and turned her over to Cheurt. She’d almost escaped twice, but each time she’d been recaptured and now she was here, locked away in Cheurt’s residence, in a special cage that somehow managed to block her completely from the power. The cage could do that without needing a constant wizard guard of her own level or higher, or even several lower level wizards to hold the block in place. She hadn’t known such a device existed, but Cheurt must have used it before because he was totally confident she wouldn’t be able to escape and didn’t mind leaving her unattended in her cage.
Shyar had been rendered helpless and had no idea what Cheurt had planned for her. While she hadn’t been abused, even after all the trouble she’d caused them along the way, one look at Cheurt when they met briefly had made it clear he was an evil man. He could do anything, and she had no means to resist. She had every intention to continue trying to escape, but she had little expectation of success. Her chances for that had been lost once they arrived here in Ale’ald. As for rescue, she held out little hope of that happening either. Jolan would want to try, but he couldn’t be sure where she was, and he had to know that would be what Cheurt expected and wanted. It would be suicide to try to come for her. That meant her future was bleak indeed.
The horrible nightmare had begun that morning in Cobalo when she and Worina had left before the festival to run a couple of minor errands. If she’d only put them off until the next day and stayed with Jolan until after the festival, none of this would have happened. Perhaps she thought, it could have been worse. They had known her schedule, and had been waiting for the two of them. Had she waited, it might have been both her and Jolan who were taken. As it was, the wizards had come upon them suddenly and without any warning. The wizard in charge of the kidnapping, a level six named As’org she’d learned much later, had simply reached out and used the power to crush or collapse Worina’s lungs. Her eyes had gone wide in surprise, and moments later had rolled up in her head as she fell to the ground dead. The killing had happened quickly, and silently, and therefore hadn’t attracted any attention from the few people out at the early hour.
Shyar had no chance to use the power herself. The three wizards had blocked her access to the power immediately, and after killing Worina had forced her to swallow some of the vile Karonabark which quickly sapped her ability completely. Even then they’d kept a block on her until later when they were certain the “bark” had worked. How she’d wished she had followed up on something Asari had once told her. He’d said that he’d once used the “bark” on Jolan, but that somehow he’d known how to interfere with the effects it caused. Not only could he reduce the time it was able to restrict his access to the power, but if he knew in advance he was to be dosed, he could do something to prevent the stuff from affecting him at all. It was a skill that she wasn’t sure she believed at first, but a skill that would have been so useful back then.
After they had her subdued, they’d led her to a covered carriage a block away, and then taken her to a residence in the wealthy part of town, north of the Inner Court. They’d taken her inside where at least thirty others were gathered, but preparing to leave for something they had planned for the day. She was no longer able to tell how many of them were wizards, and since everyone was dressed like native Angoners, she could only suspect that a large percentage probably were. At first she’d been afraid they were planning on going after Jolan, but this was something else she’d finally realized. If they’d been after Jolan and had taken her to use against him, they wouldn’t have started out of town with her almost as soon as the others had left on whatever mission they had planned.
They had headed north out of the city, which had surprised Shyar when she’d realized the direction they were taking. From her perspective, this was the worst possible direction. Anyone who might try and search for her, hoping to catch the kidnapers before they escaped too far from the city, would probably dismiss north as a possibility.
There wasn’t much north of the city except a number of estates for the wealthy until the country turned rocky and barren as it extended to the northern cliffs above the ocean. A bit to the west was Triangle Cove, which might have made a fabulous harbor and a great place for a city except the lands for miles around were a boggy marsh that no one could build on. That was more than a day away, and she couldn’t believe they’d be headed there. Her captors had driven through the rest of the day, stopping at a deserted farmhouse out on the flats, where they stayed for the night. They’d chained her in the basement, dosed her again, and left her alone.
Breaking free of the chains would have been a simple matter with the power, but without it she was helpless. Knowing there was a way to counteract the effects of the Karonabark, she tried to think of what could be done. Perhaps if she knew the way the drug worked, or had some idea of its chemical formula she’d have more chance of thinking of a solution. She’d been unable to come up with anything, especially anything that could be done without access to the power. She had one idea, but even that would take a touch of the power. Everyone had a tiny spark of the power within themselves, even when cut off from the main source. She didn’t know if she had enough, or if her idea would work. She’d have to wait for the right opportunity, and take a chance. It was too late tonight, since she’d already been dosed.
The next day she’d learned how wrong she was about their destination. They’d started out early with her dosed again and chained inside the carriage, and headed to the very spot she’d decided they couldn’t be going.
“A ship,” she said, when they pulled past a large stand of trees and the huge triple master had come into view.
“A beauty isn’t she?” asked the more relaxed of her captors. Mishim she’d heard him called. “No one will be looking for one of Ale’ald’s finest merchant sailing ships up here in the wilds. We’ll be aboard and away on the high seas long before anyone thinks of looking, and by then there’ll be no sign we were ever here.”
They loaded her aboard, installing her in one of the cabins on the lower deck. They were certain enough she offered no threat to them that they didn’t place a guard on her, but simply locked her in the cabin behind a very stout door and let her be. She had a small porthole through which she could observe the sea and a bit of the ship if she moved to where she could look sideways through the opening. In the inner wall of her room was a section of the large mast that went through the decks of the ship and was firmly attached to the keel below. From the location, she assumed this was the center mast of the ship.
Had it not been for the power, she doubted they could have gotten the ship out of the small waterway in which they had hidden her. By using the strength of several mages, the ship was maneuvered away from shore and into the waters of the cove, at which time sails were raised and the merchant vessel turned northward toward the open seas. As land slipped away behind them, Shyar fell into a deep despair, knowing that she was alone, and without any means of escape. On the vessel, far from land, without a means of touching the power, she was helpless. The inability to feel the power was a loss she found especially disheartening. For as long as she could remember it was a mere thought away, something she took for granted. To have it gone, knowing she couldn’t touch it whenever she wanted, left an emptiness she’d never known deep inside her. She fell onto the small cot and cried herself to sleep.
* * * *
For three days Shyar had paid l
ittle attention to the world around her. Each morning and evening they came to her with food, water, and of course, more of the nasty Karonabark. All three of the wizards attended her until she had taken the dose, making sure she swallowed it whole, watching to be sure her ability to tap the power remained dead. After she had taken the foul brew, they left her alone to eat or not as she desired.
As she had done the previous days, she went slowly to the small porthole to feel the breeze and the freshness of the air compared to the closeness of the room where she was held prisoner. The small opening offered her the only view of freedom and of the world they were dragging her from.
The seas were rough, but nothing dramatic as the weather was actually quite fair at the moment. That would change before the journey was over, but it wouldn’t matter. As a mage she was immune to seasickness, and had never had trouble before. She could see that the ship was still sailing directly into the sunset, so they were still headed east. The small hint of land she could see on the horizon off to the right had to be Seret, which suggested to her they were planning on sailing around the country, most likely past Kimlelm and all the way to Ale’ald. This was not unexpected. She had been kidnapped based on directions from someone in Ale’ald, so it was reasonable she would be taken there. A bit of anger returned to her, pushing away the depression that had left her without guidance.
It was time for her to shake off the despondency that had left her helpless and start to see if she could modify her situation in any way. The trip ahead would take weeks, so she had ample time to experiment. There had to be something she could do.
The first action was to do something about the Karonabark. She knew the pellets she was given to swallow rapidly dissolved once they were in her stomach. They had been shown the drug in one of the medical classes a couple of years ago. Once that happened, it would be too late to contain the effects of the drug. She was lucky that the wizards were giving it to her in pellet form, rather than the recommended solution. If she could draw the small spark of power she held inside and encapsulate the pellet before it dissolved, she might be able to minimize the effects of the drug. That might mean she would be under its influence for less time, or perhaps to a lesser degree. She’d have to wait and see what the residual effects of so many days of the drug would be.
There were a couple of problems with her plan. She’d only get one chance at trying, because the small reserve inside would be exhausted by even such a small task. Also, she would be working blindly, trying to affect something inside her that she couldn’t directly see, both complications for any magical task. In addition, the three wizards were always present when she took the drug. She was certain that As’org, the level six, would detect even such a small use of the power. The others might as well since they were watching her so closely. She needed to wait until they were distracted, or until the others had left her alone, to try and prevent the drug from entering her system. If only she knew the technique Jolan supposedly used. She would have to be patient and wait for an opening.
Her chance came six days later. The wizards had been arguing when they entered the room to give her the Karonabark. They had also become more and more relaxed about the procedure. She had been under their control for almost ten days, and never given them any trouble. She had just put the pellet to her mouth when one of the crew stuck his head in.
“Captain wants to see you ser,” he said, looking at As’org.
“Dragons, I thought the matter settled.”
As’org looked at his companions. “Has she swallowed it yet?”
Shyar made a show of swallowing and drinking the glass of water as they insisted to be sure it was washed down. As’org nodded, and motioned to the two others to follow him.
As soon as the door was locked Shyar ran to the cot and laid down. Closing her eyes she felt inside herself with her mind and reached for the foreign substance. She didn’t eat all day so that there would be little in her stomach if she had the chance to try this. Finding something, she took a chance. She carefully drew the small wisps of power and wrapped a barrier around what she hoped was the pellet of Karonabark. The power faded before she was ready. All she could do now was wait and see. Unless she regained access to the power, she would no longer even have the small shred she’d just expended.
At best, she figured it would be well into the night before she had any chance at regaining her link to the magical power she’d been missing for too long. The drug that was still in her system from the many days she’d been forced to take it wouldn’t be depleted immediately. Once she had the power, she had to be very careful in its use. There were still three fully trained wizards on board, and they would detect any but the most miniscule uses of the power, that would result in her being dosed far more heavily, and probably blocked as well. If she worked carefully when they were well away from her room and their minds were on other tasks, she might be able to cause some mischief.
Shyar knew she couldn’t take direct action, at least not yet. Even if she regained her link to the power, she knew she wouldn’t be at full strength for some time. Three against one was also too many. They would be able to lock her down. She needed to find ways to delay their trip, and then look for an opportunity to take at least one of them out, preferably As’org since he was the strongest. Then she might have a chance against the other two, especially since they didn’t know about the kinds of shields she could create.
It was almost morning before she could begin to sense the power, just out of her reach. She’d begun to worry that she hadn’t been successful the previous evening or that the residual drug in her system would keep her powerless until after they drugged her again in the morning. But now she knew that she would break through before they returned. That meant she could recharge herself, and this time after they left she could use the real power not the miniscule residual she could hold to encapsulate the pellet. She would start getting stronger. Once the power was back she tapped it ever so lightly and made a small barrier inside herself. It would hold the pellet just out of her stomach while letting the water she drank pass. She couldn’t have managed such a complex task the previous night, and by using such a small amount of the power it took her nearly fifteen minutes to complete the task. Hopefully she was ready now, so all she could do was wait.
They arrived later than usual, which had given her even more time to recover. She tried to act the same when they entered with her breakfast and the pellet.
“Going to get exciting pretty soon,” said Mishim, always the most talkative of the three. “A big storm is coming up on the horizon.”
He handed her the pellet that she dutifully put into her mouth. She took the water and drank, setting the half-filled glass on the table next to her food. Mishim nodded and the three of them left, locking the door behind them.
Immediately she went to work. Still restricting her use of the power, she wrapped the pellet tightly with a barrier, and then forced herself to gag until she was able to cough up the nasty thing. Looking at the mushy mass, which had already started to dissolve, she walked to the porthole and tossed it over board.
With a sigh of relief, she let go of the barrier inside and sat down at the table and ate. She had been holding off on her food and was very hungry. While she ate, she considered what she wanted to do.
First was the mast. She’d always been good with materials, and she knew how she could weaken the grain from the inside where it wouldn’t show. She didn’t know if there would be time before the storm Mishim had warned her about, but even if it took longer, the mast would fail before too long even without those stresses. Without the largest mast, the ship would be at a real disadvantage, and would become more difficult to handle and slow. Carefully, she reached out and laid her hands on the mast and let the power flow inside. Working covertly, still taking the smallest amount of power she tested her theory. She could feel the structure alter at her command. Knowing she could do it, she pulled back. This was something to do at night when the others were a
sleep. She’d need to use the power for a long time at the minimal rate she could hope to work undetected.
Now to try something else. She wasn’t as confident she could accomplish her second task, but she might as well try now since she couldn’t work on the mast at the moment. She stood by the porthole and reached her hand out and laid it on the side of the ship. She allowed her power sense to slide along the surface until it reached the waterline. Here was where she would start.
The ship had been built like most wooden ships of the time. The heavy planks that formed the hull were as closely fitted as possible, but counted on the swelling of the wood to close the final small gaps and make it watertight. As long as the ship remained in the water, the wood would remain gorged with water and all the small leaks would be closed. Shyar intended to undo that. The wood could be modified slightly, and the structure changed so it wouldn’t be able to hold the water and would shrink again. Perhaps not back to its dried dimensions, but very close. The water it currently held would be released in the process, and the many small leaks would be reopened, allowing water from the sea to start to seep into the hull. It would be slow, and hopefully the leaks wouldn’t be obvious, but it would also make the ship sit deeper in the water and make it slow and hard to handle as well. Combined with the mast she hoped to wreck, they would make very little headway and might have to put into shore for repairs. One of the best things, this was a spell she could start and let run its course alone. She’d learned the technique from Buris, and had practiced it under his guidance. Once she started the process, she could instruct it to migrate through all the wood of the hull. It would continue without her direct guidance, and would take the power as needed. She could control the level, so once again she would make it a very low power action, which would make it progress very slowly, but she had time. Since the action would be happening below the water level, the low level of the magic would be that much harder to detect. It was too bad that the spell she wanted to use on the mast wasn’t one that could be made automatic.