by Bob Blink
Luzoke had already returned to shielding their own vessel, but significant damage had been done. They were taking on water, and were in no shape to continue the attacks. Eight enemy vessel’s had been destroyed, and another taken from the fight. That was less than Jolan had hoped, but still a reasonable score.
“Let’s make for shore,” he shouted to the captain, who was busy trying to maneuver his wounded ship. The man nodded and shouted commands, and the ship made a turn and headed back to land where they had started a bit earlier. The surviving enemy ships were already well distant, making their way on toward Bandu.
By the time they made shore, the Sea Chaser was noticeably lower in the water, and Jolan knew it would require significant repairs before it was able to take to the sea again.
“How many?” he asked the captain as he waited for the ship to make the final landing so they could disembark.
“Three dead,” the Captain answered. “Another badly wounded and won’t survive. At that we were lucky where their attack struck.”
“Where is the wounded man?” Jolan asked.
“There’s nothing you can do for him,” the Captain said. “Best you hurry on ahead.”
Jolan shook his head, and pressed the Captain to take him to the man. He could see what the Captain meant. A large piece of ship’s timber had been blasted through the man’s abdomen. It was a wonder he’d lived this long. Jolan knelt beside the man, whose eyes were squinted in pain. A large pool of blood surrounded the man, but no one had attempted to move him knowing he was doomed and any movement would cause him further agony.
Jolan laid his hand on the man’s arm, and felt the blue healing ring immediately start to react. The seamen gathered around gaping in surprise as the large timber seemed to extract itself from the man, sliding to one side as the wounds closed and the damage healed itself as they watched. A few moments later the man was breathing quietly.
“He’ll need rest, but he’ll be okay,” Jolan said to the Captain. “I’m sorry about the others. Even the ring can’t help them.”
“Dragons man, how did you do that?”
“It’s the magic of the ring, not the wearer. Its magic only needs a mage to act as a conduit to the power so it can perform its wonders.”
While his companions carried the weak, but now healthy, seaman to a safer spot, Jolan and the mages were helped off the ship and to shore where their horses waited. They mounted, said a final quick farewell, and headed back up the hill toward the portal they had used to come here. Twenty minutes later they exited a second portal well ahead of the advancing enemy fleet. Another ship waited below for them. They rode down the incline, hoping this pass would be as effective as the last, but knowing the enemy would be warned, and more likely to attack early and try harder to avoid them. Jolan didn’t think they would be able to hurt the fleet as much as he’d hoped when he came up with this plan. It was already late in the day when they entered the portal and jumped to the next location to the west.
The second pass occurred a day later and was less effective than the first. More blasts were made against their ship as it made its attacks, but the powerful shields they had held against the assaults. Six of the enemy ships were burned to the waterline before the fleet moved beyond range of Jolan and the other two mages. There was no point in trying to catch up, and they hurried back to shore so they could repeat the portal jump ahead to where another ship waited.
For the third time, Jolan stood on the forward deck as a ship under him plowed through the rough waves toward the advancing fleet. It had been four days since the first attacks. This time the enemy was on alert, and seeing their approach they attempted to maneuver so as to pass well out of range. The Captain of Jolan’s vessel was a cagey and experienced seaman and, forewarned by Jolan, he had positioned his ship for just such an eventuality. He made several adjustments to their own course, and soon brought them within range of five of the enemy ships. Despite the blasts the enemy directed their way, Jolan and his team were able to destroy all five of the vessels.
It looked like they might have a chance at a couple more, when two ships suddenly turned aside in opposite directions, revealing a third ship deliberately headed their way. Jolan could sense the shields of the other ship, and as they passed some force from the other vessel locked the two together. Separated by a hundred yards of ocean, energy beams blasted across the water in both directions. Neither was able to harm the other as the shields of both continued to hold.
Jolan was shocked to see the power of the other ship’s shields. He would have bet no one else was able to produce anything so strong. He could sense that three wizards on the far ship had somehow linked to create the shield that was blocking their attack. A fourth wizard was launching powerful bolts of energy their way, hammering at the protection that Luzoke was so far holding in place.
“He’s too strong,” Luzoke said when Jolan approached. “I don’t know how he is doing it, but he is not only holding us, but his blasts are going to break us down before much longer.”
The woman, for Jolan could see her long hair being blown about in the wind, had to be Cheurt’s lead wizard for the armada. It made sense that he would have sent someone very strong to lead the attacks on Bandu. The results of this attack were far too important to leave it to a lesser wizard. Clearly their attacks fell short of what was required to break through the enemy’s protection, and they couldn’t get away. Luzoke’s warning told him they had only a little time to find a solution, or they would be joining the other ships they had sent to the bottom of the sea this day.
A bit of quick probing told Jolan the power shields were directed only toward them rather than completely surrounding the enemy ship. That made sense. Increase the strength by placing the protection only where required. Jolan sent a trickle of energy deep into the water. Water usually presented problems for mages, but the fact he was working on the water rather than trying to work through it helped. He also had the added capability provided by the amplifier and the two factors gave him the capability to reach deep enough to accomplish his goal.
Jolan had to fumble a bit, but then began the process. The water began to separate, forming small bubbles of gas. He formed a barrier to hold them in place, and then ramped up his energy flow to speed the process a thousand fold. Two huge bubbles of gas formed, which he quickly forced to mix together and then sent a hot spark of energy into the center. Oxygen and hydrogen and fire don’t play well together. The massive fireball he created from the gasses swelled outward and upward. Above was the ship, protected on the side, but not from the supposedly secure bottom. The pressure wave blasted up through the hull, through the bilge and lower decks carrying timber and ballast at high speed toward the upper deck. As the explosion blasted through the decking taking the wizards by surprise, Jolan could see two of the triad that had been protecting the ship carried away by the flying debris. The shields fell away, and anticipating the fall, Jolan immediately put every ounce of his strength, fed by the staff, his fire ring, and the amplifier, into a Firewrap spell directed at the woman wizard. He could almost hear her scream across the water as the intense coil of swirling energy engulfed her, tearing her personal shield apart and turning her instantly into ash. Tarel and Nique repeatedly blasted the ship with bolt after bolt of intense fire, and within moments the charred and crumbling hull sank beneath the waves.
They had survived, but at least thirty ships still sailed onward toward Bandu. There were no more ships waiting to make runs against the advancing fleet. Jolan and his team sailed for shore so they could make the last portal jump to Bandu to be there to support the army against the coming attack.
* * * *
The enemy fleet was already making its way into the small harbor at Bandu when Jolan rode up with his team. The Seretian army was in place, ready to take on the enemy when they tried to disembark for the shore. Despite the large number of soldiers, Jolan wondered how the battle might go, since he was certain a significant number of enemy wizards were
still present on the ships. Jolan looked for the commander whom he had met some days before, but instead saw a small figure standing on the docks below. He hurried down there, wondering how and why Tishe had come here.
He was partway down the wooden dock to where she stood, intense concentration on her face as she looked out to where the enemy ships gathered in the relatively calm waters of the sheltered inlet. As Jolan watched the waters of the inlet suddenly began to bubble, and then boil with increasing ferocity. Steam started rising from the top of the ocean, and a glow appeared in the depths below the ships. Several tried to raise their sails and move away from the furiously boiling water. The heat was becoming intense, but Tishe stood her ground, looking out at the cauldron she had created.
The underwater glow became even brighter, and the water continued to boil away. Fresh seawater, rushing in to fill the falling level around the ships took only moments to heat to the boiling point and it too began to steam and bubble. Then, the glowing molten lava burst through the water creating a huge oval ring surrounding the ships in the inlet. The lava rose several feet above the waves, and then seemed to stop. The water trapped in the enclosure continued to boil, until the glowing rock could been seen below. As the water boiled away, the ships sank lower, eventually coming into direct contact with the now solid but still intensely hot rock. They burst into flame, and those aboard had nowhere to go. One by one, the ships of the huge armada were consumed. Finally, only two remained, somehow outside of the barrier and already setting sail back the way they had come. It would be interesting to hear the stories they would tell when they returned home, Jolan thought.
The rock had started to darken as the sea water continued to cool it. Tishe had now lost interest and turned away, realizing Jolan was standing there.
“They wanted to destroy my home,” she said, as if explaining her actions. “I was born here. They had no right.”
Jolan could see the tears running down her young cheeks as she rushed toward him.
“Tishe, are you all right?” he asked as she fell into his waiting embrace.
She nodded, indicating she was, but as he held her, she suddenly went limp in his arms.
Jolan could tell she was still breathing, and the ring didn’t seem to detect anything that it could help. Quickly he lifted her into his arms and hurried back toward the portal. He needed to get her back to the College where someone could see to her.
Chapter 131
“The medical team are certain that Tishe is going to be okay,” Chancellor Vaen said as she came out to where Jolan waited. “They think it was a bit of a strain on her, and what she did must have taken an emotional toll as well. I suspect she might also have realized something about herself. Tishe’s family was killed in a house fire when she was only two years old. It was most likely a fire she initiated herself. It’s probable that she now realizes as much.”
“Dragons!” Jolan said. “How did she manage what she did? I’ve never seen such power, and she did it alone and unaided. She destroyed the whole of the Ale’ald fleet.”
“It’s obvious that Tishe is a true Naturemage,” Vaen said. “There hasn’t been one in hundreds of years. There have been signs, but this is the first example of what she is becoming. Soon her abilities will be far beyond our usual means of measuring such things. She can obviously do far more than the rest of us who can access certain spells for simple tasks. The area around Bandu is very active geologically. She’s from the area, and given her latent talent, probably knew about the pipes of molten lava all her life. She somehow is able to tap them, and force them to do her bidding. She brought the molten stone from underground, forcing it to the surface, or in this case to the floor of the ocean. It will be interesting to examine once it cools.
“Does she need anything?”
Vaen’s response was delayed by an uncharacteristic hesitation. “I think she would be really happy to see Janie when she wakes up.”
“Janie? My sister Janie?”
Vaen nodded. “I didn’t think you realized how close they had become. Tishe looks on your sister as a surrogate mother. I think it would be very good if Janie would come here.”
“I can easily enough remove the shield around the Nexus. Cheurt’s people should have already discovered the problem, and even if not, there is nothing that says it has to remain blocked continuously. Asari and I can go and get her.”
“Are you sure it’s wise for you to go back? You said the police there would be looking for you. Maybe someone else could go?”
“Janie needs to hear this from me. I’m sure she will come for a few days. We can close off the Nexus while she’s here, and if anyone comes through while we are there, Asari and I will both be armed.”
Jolan hurried off to find Asari, and they headed back to Tilano to make the jump. It meant opening up the tunnel again, but that was simple enough now that they knew how. A short time later they were on Earth. Janie was shocked to see him and distressed at the news. She told him the police had finally identified him, but they hadn’t bothered her for a while now. She arranged for her kids to stay with a neighbor that she trusted for a few days rather than bring them along, and in a matter of hours was waiting beside the bed when Tishe woke up.
She stayed four days, until Tishe was back on her feet. Physically Tishe was fine, although she had dark circles under her eyes, but the ordeal had changed her. She was no longer a child. She still smiled given the right circumstances, but she seldom laughed. And it wasn’t the spontaneous, totally happy laugh of an unburdened innocent young girl. Not now anyway.
The change bothered Jolan a great deal. It also bothered him that he couldn’t decide how much of his concern had been for Tishe, and how much had been a concern that without her he’d have lost his link to Shyar.
When he took Janie back to Earth it was with a clear understanding that Tishe could go with her for as long as she wanted, or Janie could come back. Tishe said she understood, but that Janie needed to get home to her family, and Tishe claimed she had her own responsibilities on Gaea. No amount of talk was able to sway her decision. After his return, Jolan closed up the Nexus once again, until someone needed to make another trip.
Chapter 132
“The Queen was quite pleased with the results of the first encounter of the season,” Wylan said. He and Jolan were sitting in the major’s office discussing the event and trying to come to some conclusions about what else the enemy would be initiating soon. They both were a bit surprised nothing had happened as yet.
“The success of the effort belongs to Tishe,” Jolan said. “We managed to take out a few of their ships before they reached Bandu, but if it hadn’t been for the amazing abilities she displayed, the outcome at the port most likely would have been far less satisfactory.”
“Yes, a very remarkable feat. The cost to Ale’ald has to be punishing. They lost a significant fraction of the ships they had available, not to mention a goodly number of wizards and troops. Chancellor Vaen was telling me she’d never encountered that linking technique you described. Are you certain it wasn’t simply a very powerful wizard?”
“I talked with Vaen about that as well. I can’t be positive, but that’s what I was sensing at the time. The shields seemed to fall apart when one of the supporting wizards was killed by the explosion beneath the ship, so I still think that was what they were doing somehow. She’s got people looking into it. If that linking is something many of them can do, it might present a real problem for us.”
“It makes one wonder what they have planned for the river assault. One cannot fault their determination.”
“Are we still convinced that is the way they plan to come?” Jolan asked, although there wasn’t any other choice that seemed likely. They had spies keeping an eye on the mountains in southern Seret, and no build up of troops had been detected. It wouldn’t be easy or quick to move troops that way, and without revealing the effort to anyone who was looking, virtually impossible.
“Their security has
been excellent. They have troops in place all up and down the river, and the rumblings are consistent that they plan a river crossing somewhere. We have all of the likely places covered, but we have found no sign of the means to make such an assault. There is no build up of boats or barges. Most would only be able to make a one way crossing because of the current, so it would take a considerable number. Our spies have been busy around the clock, and have found no sign of such a fleet. Building a bridge to replace one of those they destroyed last year would require an obvious effort and would take weeks.”
“There is no place they could cross on foot?”
“There are places near the head waters back in the mountains. Those places are being watched and have problems of their own, not to mention the crossing would be observed, and it would literally take half of the spring season for the troops to make the long trek down toward Carta, which we know is their prime objective. We would have troops in place to harass them the entire way, and their supply lines would be unsustainable.”
They continued to discuss possibilities, both men knowing that an attack had to come soon. Ale’ald would have tried to coordinate the efforts of the sea attack and their land assault. The failure of the sea attack may have put them off a few days, but they couldn’t delay much longer. The men and supplies had to be in place, so the longer they delayed, the greater the chance someone would stumble onto their plan. While they were talking one of Wylan’s senior aides hurried into the room carrying a message for the major. Wylan paled as he read the note.
“Dragons!” he swore and handed the note to Jolan while he gave the aide instructions.
“Poison gas,” Jolan said surprised. They had known that Ale’ald had experimented with it before, but had found it too unpredictable and difficult to deliver. He read further with a growing sense of dread as the note explained how the enemy was delivering the foul stuff.