by Bob Blink
“What about more standard military encounters? Are we still in a face-off with Ale’ald?”
“For the most part, although their triads have given them the advantage in several encounters. Since they can operate at long range, even the snipers cannot effectively target them. The snipers now have to get close to have a chance of penetrating those metal barriers. It greatly increases the risks. The triads understand the matter, and tend to be mobile, not giving the snipers time to get into place. If we can’t find a way to counter them, I fear we are going to lose a lot of men come spring.”
“There’s nothing from Earth that can help?”
“We’ve talked with Gene, and he agrees with Jolan. The type of things that would help, he sees no quick way of getting. The only way would be to somehow open a diplomatic channel with the government on Earth, and that has risks as well. Besides, Gene suspects it would take several years before the politicians there could accept our existence and then get around to deciding how to help us. We don’t have the time. In addition, that would mean multiple trips to Tilano, which would clearly reveal the portals to Ale’ald.”
“Okay. Think about whom we can bring together to start brainstorming. We need some fresh ideas. We all agree Ale’ald is slowly gaining the upper hand. Let’s meet again same time tomorrow and discuss how to move our thinking forward.”
Vaen and Wylan left the Queen’s meeting room discussing whom they might want to bring to the meeting. They had already held their own meetings, and simply had not come up with any counters to some of Ale’ald’s recent actions. Vaen was surprised to see an agitated Tishe waiting outside.
“What’s wrong?” she asked as the girl hurried towards her.
“It’s Jolan,” she said. “He’s dying. He may already be dead.”
Vaen paled. “Come. Explain to us what happened.” They hurried into a small room off to the side and closed the door so they could talk privately. None of them noticed Denelere waiting to see the Queen off to the side. Clearly, she had overheard what Tishe had said. There was little point in hanging around. She wouldn’t learn any more and had been fortunate to overhear as much as she had. Besides, Vaen didn’t trust her. She had been a bit too inquisitive a few weeks back when trying to find out where Jolan had gone. It was best if she wasn’t even around when Vaen came out of the small room. She decided she could see the Queen later. This needed to be passed on immediately. She wished she knew where Jolan was, but that information had been closely guarded for all the weeks he had been missing. Still, this would be forwarded immediately. She would go into town and pass the word to her handlers. Cheurt would know within days.
Chapter 170
The countryside had turned rocky and steep, yet Asari knew they were headed in the right direction. He’d thought himself in good shape, but even he was having trouble matching Shyar as she tackled each new obstacle with grim determination. He wouldn’t have been surprised to see her walk up a vertical cliff if one had been so foolish as to stand in their path.
Yesterday had been especially grim as they marched away and headed in the direction that Asari felt pulling at him. He had been unable to get the picture out of his mind of the lone Mage’s Box sitting in the middle of the wilderness alone and unwatched. Jolan was left farther behind them as they pressed into the ever steeper hills that occupied the land on the northern shore of the lake. Asari didn’t know if the Mage’s Box would help Jolan survive or not. Putting a living being inside was something that had never been tested. At least he’d never seen Jolan attempt it. He could only hope. He was given some encouragement by the continuing existence of the Travel Box. Like the Mage’s Box that had convinced him that Jolan was still alive when he had been kidnapped back in Seret, the continued presence of the Travel Box gave some assurance that Jolan still lived. For most of the day Shyar carried the small lid in her hand as if to reassure herself.
All day Asari paid special attention to the direction they traveled so that he could find his way back to the spot where they had left Jolan. It was an unnecessary exercise, but he couldn’t help himself. Asari knew that Shyar would have no problem finding the box again. Jolan’s fate rested entirely on Shyar. If something happened to her, then there would be little point of trying to find the spot again. The Box would disappear, and Jolan would die before Asari could get back to him. What they needed now was a portal so they could get Jolan back to the medical mages in Cobalo, although Asari couldn’t help wondering if they would have any luck treating Jolan. Vaen had survived the odd infection she’d been attacked with only because of her own defenses and not because of anything the medical teams had done for her. Maybe he and Shyar should have tried to find the natives once again. They lived here and would most likely have some knowledge of the infection. He couldn’t believe his friend might die. Not after everything they had gone through together.
At one point Shyar had looked back at Asari, silently asking him which path they should take when the mountain split into two adjacent valleys. He could see how red rimmed her eyes were, and knew she had been fighting hard to contain herself while they continued on. That shook Asari as much as anything. If Shyar had doubts, then Jolan’s chances were grave.
They had made camp at dark the previous night. Shyar had gone to extremes in her preparations, wiping the area they planned on staying with blasts of rolling fire and an intense energy-blast. Nothing could have survived her attentions. Then she erected a stout barrier, with wards and spells that would incinerate anything that attempted to cross into the area where they stayed. No fire was started that night. Instead Shyar had used her Mage’s light to provide for them, and they had eaten from the supplies the Travel Box offered. Few words were exchanged between them. Each was wrapped up in their own thoughts and memories.
Neither had slept well the previous night, and morning had found them looking ragged and frazzled as they started out again on the trail. Now the path they followed wound ever upward through the rocks and trees. The forest had turned to pine and the lake, when the turns through the hills allowed them the proper perspective, could be seen laid out far below stretching into the distance until it disappeared on the horizon.
There was no trail, and they had to pick their way through the rocks and along the sides of the steep hills. Sometimes they came to a sudden edge that dropped away alarmingly and allowed them to see the valley thousands of feet below. Each time they came to what seemed a dead end, Asari was able to find a small pathway that led them deeper into the mountains and always higher.
This high in the mountains it was a bit cooler, and water flowed from the melting snows that still covered the peaks far above them. Frequently they had to step through or around the streams that cut across their path as the water rushed downhill, later to flow into the great lake they had been on only two days before.
Morning turned into afternoon as Asari urged them onward. More than once Shyar had looked at him long and hard as if assessing his certainty of their direction. He knew she wanted to question him, but he wouldn’t have been able to explain what made him certain they were headed correctly. At one point they came to a small flat area that was covered with grass despite the mostly rocky base. Off to their right was a solid granite wall that extended hundreds of feet in either direction and rose at a steep angle several thousand feet toward the top of the mountain.
They continued to trudge past until suddenly Asari shouted out, “Wait!”
Shyar stopped and looked at him with concern. “What’s wrong?” she finally asked seeing nothing obvious that would have caused him to react so.
“I think we are here,” he said, with a bit of uncertainty showing on his face for the first time.
“There’s nothing here,” Shyar said, pointing to the small meadow and the solid rock that bordered the one side. The other side was open to the sky with a long drop to the ground far below.
“Right there,” Asari said, pointing at the solid granite mountain. “We need to go that way.”
Nothing happened.
“That’s not right,” she said as much to herself as Asari. Motioning him back, she attacked the wall with an even more powerful beam, but once again nothing happened.
“That is not granite,” she said unnecessarily. “I think you might be right that something is here, but I don’t know how we are going to get through. I can’t even mark it.”
The two of them ran their hands along the surface, working first to the right and then back to the left.
“It’s all the same,” Shyar complained. “I’ve never seen anything like this, but I can’t sense anything but natural rock.”
Asari, who had no magical ability at all, was even more limited in his senses, but something continued to pull at him. Then suddenly he said, “This is the spot.”
Shyar turned to look at where Asari pointed and was shocked to see him disappearing into the wall of granite as if it wasn’t there. In a matter of seconds he had completely disappeared. She rushed to the spot and placed her hands in the exact spot where Asari had disappeared and felt nothing different. The rock was as solid here as anywhere else.
She stood back and stared at the spot, a small kernel of panic starting to form inside her. Then, suddenly, Asari walked back out into view, seemingly appearing out of the solid rock.
He beamed. It was the first smile she had seen since Jolan had been placed in the Mage’s Box.
“You’ve got to see,” he exclaimed. “This is it. It’s a big open area inside. All of this we see is fake. The mountain doesn’t start until a couple of hundred yards back, and there is a large opening in the side. There are also a couple of planes of some kind. They are huge and very different from the ones I flew with Jolan on Earth. They also look pretty beat up. Come on.”
“I can’t,” Shyar told him.
Asari looked at her. “It’s easy. Right through here,” he said and stuck his hand into what looked like solid granite.
Shyar walked over next to him, but her arm encountered a solid barrier of rock. “See,” she said in frustration.
Asari was surprised, but no amount of trying or seeking nearby locations made any difference. Shyar wasn’t getting through.
“I’m going to go look,” Asari said finally. “Wait here for me.”
“Asari, wait!” Shyar said, but he was already slipping through the rock barrier and in seconds was once again lost from view.
Shyar shook her head, then looked for a place to sit down. Now she was completely alone. She looked at the unfamiliar forest so far from home and everything she knew. There was no telling what dangers Asari might face inside, and she wasn’t there to help him. All he had was his bow and the pistol, not much considering. She couldn’t know if he would make it back out, or whether she would ever see him again. There was nothing to do but make camp and wait, hoping for the best. If he didn’t return by morning, she would have to decide how to proceed on her own.
“Dragonpiss!” she exclaimed, and pulled out the Travel Box so she could obtain access to the writing implements and describe to those on the ship what had happened. They needed to be able to take the information back to Cobalo in case none of them returned.
Chapter 171
They were beginning to gain the upper hand once again, but he was concerned at how slowly the efforts had been progressing. Clearly it would be spring before his forces would be ready to move forward with serious intentions. Cheurt walked back to his library and stood looking out the window. He had expected to control Seret by now. It would now be another season before he was able to accomplish that goal. Controlling Seret would leave Angon isolated and vulnerable, their last ally gone. He was certain they had run out of surprises to confound him, and with what he had stumbled upon through the fool that had tried to attack him, the outcome was certain. It was the timing that he couldn’t predict.
The experiments with the portals had gone reasonably well. He was certain they had mapped the locations in their lands and most of the portals inside Kimlelm. The locals had been a great help there. He had his troops use simple motivation. The word went out that all known portals were to be reported. After a week, if any portals were discovered that hadn’t been reported, the locals were punished by killing a random sixteen citizens for each undisclosed portal that was found. It didn’t matter whether they were men, women, or children. The first sixteen the army found were executed on the spot. It hadn’t taken long for the word to get out. After seeing their support from Seret and Angon fade away, the people were discouraged, and this time they gave in far easier. Perhaps the setbacks had all been for the better in the long run.
They also knew of a number of portals in both Seret and Angon. Not as many as he would like, and he suspected most of them were being watched, but he had means of quickly getting people into those places now. They also knew the addresses of at least one portal, and he suspected two, within the College of Mages itself. That had been a major achievement. Of course, they had been surprised there. Unlike some of the other areas that had been rigged with explosives, easy enough to deal with now that they understood what was happening and now that they had the barriers to augment their shields, there had been something that hindered their use of magic. He was still trying to understand that. The triad that had made it back was quite adamant that they had emerged in a room defended by soldiers and mages, and that they simply could not execute a single spell. Their shields, which had been in place as they walked through the portal, had remained intact, but nothing new was possible. The restriction didn’t seem to apply to the mages on the far end, who had attacked with several types of fighting spells, none of which had been sufficient to overcome the powerful shield of the triad. The second triad, of course, hadn’t returned at all. Angon had some kind of weapon, and he needed to know more about it. He was going to have to be careful about where he sent his people until he understood what they were doing. He had only so many triads, although that was changing. Soon he would have a hundred such teams, and then he would be in a position to cause some serious damage.
At first he had been excited when his teams had reported back that they had found a buried city. He was sure it was Ygooro, and indeed it appeared it was, but Angon had beat him there. Somehow they had cleaned out every scrap of information from the city, leaving behind a bare hulk to taunt him. He would have those records, but now it would have to wait until he owned Angon as well.
Other projects that had been delayed or virtually destroyed were getting back on track. He had cleared out the town around the Academy and the castle. The entire area was now a military complex, filled with wizards who were learning the triad techniques and younger wizards that were being trained in combat spells. Many were far younger than usual, but the ranks of the wizards had been badly depleted in the past year.
After a great deal of consideration, Cheurt was forming his own triad. The triad process required a great deal of openness between the three wizards involved. He hadn’t wanted to share some of his knowledge and insights with others, but if there were to be so many triads, he needed to be sure he was far more powerful than any of the groups he created. He finally decided he could trust Ranul, his long time supporter and former archer, and Karli, a female wizard with whom he’d shared more than secrets for some time. He was far stronger than either of them, and they knew a fair bit about his goals anyway. The strength of the triad was ultimately determined by it’s strongest member, so he would still be the strongest triad in existence, and not have any real concerns about his fellow triad partners.
On another front, new factories had been built to produce the gas which had worked so effectively. H
e was also getting a few more gliders, although without the devices from Earth, they were far less effective. He suspected he would lose at least half of the aircraft, so the missions would have to be very selective. There were other methods of deploying the gas. None as effective or with the range of the planes, but they would make his enemies cautious. He’d seen how effective it had been before Jolan had destroyed his airforce.
Kimlelm was once again falling into place. They were regaining firm control, and gradually thinning out the groups that had formed to oppose their rule. He wouldn’t be so soft this time around. The response to anyone suspected of being with the rebels would be severe.
Cheurt checked the time. It was almost time when he could look in on Jolan again. The man’s activities had him greatly perplexed. For weeks he had been on a ship headed somewhere Cheurt hadn’t been able to discern. Then, close to a week ago Cheurt had observed them on a huge lake. Tilano? He had wondered at first, but once again this lake didn’t seem to have been drained. Then he saw them fighting the Culpa spiders. Cheurt was very familiar with the spider and had used its venom in the past. That had to mean they were in the Lost Territories. What could possibly have their interest there, and what should he be doing about it? Their ship had to be anchored reasonably close to Ale’ald. Perhaps he could send one of his warships and destroy it.
Even more disturbing was the fact that for four days he hadn’t been able to get any images at all. Somehow Jolan had managed to find a way to block everything from Cheurt. That should have been impossible, and for a while Cheurt wondered if something was wrong with his staff. Tests against other subjects worked properly, however, so it had to be Jolan or something he was doing. Then last night the image had unexpectedly returned, although Cheurt hadn’t been able to see much. It appeared Jolan was in some kind of odd laboratory, and he seemed to be reclining or in bed. That fit with a message he had received today through his network from his prime source in Angon that claimed Jolan might be dying. Perhaps that was why he’d been unable to receive any images for several days. But why had things changed?