by Bob Blink
Shyar was, of course, pissed at him. Only the fact he and Asari had made it out unharmed, and the fact they had lost their two friends had held her tongue in check. He knew he would hear about the matter at some point, but for the moment she settled for giving him some scathing looks.
The three of them headed down to the portal room. Jolan wasn’t positive this was going to work, but he thought it would and he didn’t know how long the window of opportunity would last. Wylan had been monitoring the Academy since yesterday, and Morin and Buris the portals, and there hadn’t been any indication of a mass exodus from the area. It seemed the wizards felt they had won the round, and for the moment were staying put. It couldn’t last. They had left the troops in the field virtually undefended, and they would have to return to support them against possible attack. He was surprised they hadn’t started returning already.
“You’re sure you want to go there?” Morin asked when they entered the portal room a few minutes later.
Jolan nodded. “If anything goes wrong, there are skimmers not too far away. They can come and get us if needed. We have one of the communicators.”
Morin nodded unhappily, but had his team activate the portal Jolan had identified to him the previous night. He watched as the three stepped into the opening and disappeared from sight. He closed the portal after they were gone. If they chose to return that way, they could open it locally.
* * * *
Jolan looked across the wide valley to the small dark cluster of structures so far away. They had found this portal when they were exploring Ale’ald in hopes of rescuing Shyar. It was almost forty miles across the valley to the Academy he could barely make out. This portal was in the middle of nowhere, without even a dirt path that passed through the area. He’d been sure it would be deserted, although they had been prepared to deal with anyone who had been assigned to guard it. Finding it as deserted as expected, Asari laid down the heavy weapon he and Jolan had been supporting, and Shyar relaxed the strong shields she had been maintaining.
“It’s a long way,” Shyar said uncertainly.
“I don’t know why, but it isn’t supposed to matter. Actually, I don’t know why I am supposed to be able to use the spell at all. It’s a bit like the Mage’s Box. I simply know I can.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Once I release the spell, build your strongest shields around the three of us and anchor us to the ground. Make sure that you make the shield dark. Make it like we practiced last night.”
“We won’t be able to see anything?” she said.
“Perhaps not,” Jolan said, but he knew otherwise.
Moments later there was no reason to delay any longer. Jolan didn’t want to do this, but the war had gone on long enough. This wouldn’t end it completely, but it would be just a matter of time if this worked. They would have to search down the random triads and deal with the troops Ale’ald had scattered across Kimlelm, but that could be done. They had five years or so before the dragon technology would shut down. Iach-Iss had warned them that he’d put a time limit on the equipment. Gaea needed to develop on its own. By then the war should have been over, or the wrong side would have won.
Sadly, he nodded at Shyar and reached into the hidden corner of his mind where he’d stuffed the spell he was so reluctant to use. Then, focusing on the building of the Academy across the valley he triggered the spell of destruction.
He’d run some calculations the previous night and sought the equivalent of a fifty megaton explosion. Vaen had given him permission to go back into the sealed book room and review what he’d seen there when they’d been looking for something else so long ago. He knew where to look, and once again he’d been certain he could execute the spell. Fifty megatons would be so far above what any of the wizard’s shields could handle, triad or not, that all would be destroyed. The Academy and whatever shield protected it would fail, and the area for several miles around would be consumed by the sun-like temperatures that would be created.
It only took the smallest fraction of a second. This time the energies were from the source that powered magic and not from the fusion of atomic particles. There would be no residual radiation to plague the people of the land in future years. In most other ways, the explosion was identical to the movies he had seen of nuclear blasts.
Shyar had, of course, been wrong. They had no trouble seeing the blinding light that suddenly lit the morning sky across the valley. It flared and overpowered every other source of illumination. After a few moments, the light from the explosion began to die. He had Shyar reduce the darkening characteristic of her shields so they could see, while maintaining the protection her shields provided. They watched as the massive mushroom cloud grew in the distance. Jolan wondered if this was the first that had ever existed on Gaea, or whether the existence of the spell indicated such magic had been used to cause some of the massive destruction in the time of the War of Mages. Shyar was silent, disbelieving the magnitude of the blast Jolan had triggered.
Asari’s eyes were wide as he watched the base of the mushroom cloud grow to a size that was wider than the whole of the Academy and surrounding city. Nothing would have survived in that. Wylan would be watching remotely via the satellites, and they would see the damage in the following days, but Jolan knew. He didn’t know how far the fireball and blast would reach. Perhaps at forty miles they would be outside the perimeter of the damage. They could probably leave by the portal now before the winds and blast could reach them, but he’d triggered this thing and he’d see it through. For some reason he wondered if the portals, which seemed immune to everything else, would survive the explosion. Maybe they could check afterwards.
Chapter 184
The dragon’s satellite monitoring system revealed the truth. Where the Academy and the small village that had become a rooming area for Cheurt’s wizards had once stood, now a massive crater that extended miles beyond the region of interest was all that could be seen. Wylan had thought they were looking at the wrong spot for a minute, and had the operators call up the coordinates that had been stored for key locations. The dragons had had to help create these stored files, since no one else had learned to read their numbering system, but after several attempts he was convinced. There was total destruction for more than thirty miles from ground zero, and it was quite clear that no one could have survived the blast that caused such damage.
Ale’ald had suffered the greatest setback in its history. It was not known just what secrets had been held in the Academy, but unless they held them somewhere else as well, and it was not like the wizards to do so, they were now lost. The majority of those who could use the power in Ale’ald had been destroyed as well. Not all, by any means. There were many wizards that hadn’t been in the area at the time. That included a number of triads. But there was no longer a force of wizards available to pursue the war. Those that remained could gradually be hunted down and dealt with.
Almost predictably, Cheurt was not among those that perished. The resourceful wizard appeared to have left the vicinity before the earth rearranging blast had struck. The staff stubbornly refused to allow itself to bond, which according to the dragons, was a sure sign he still lived. They had watched and searched via the monitors for any sign as to where he might be, but the Settled Lands were a large area, and he could be almost anywhere. Their search had been guided by focusing on all areas that had had portals opened after the encounter that had killed the dragons, but even if Cheurt had left via the portals, he’d had almost a day to flee into obscurity. He might have left Ale’ald by another means. It would have been like him to have an escape plan in place.
Word was already spreading. In Kimlelm, near the stone bridges that crossed the great river, the soldiers had seen their wizards destroyed. When none came to replace those killed and word came of the loss of the Academy, the will to fight was gone. The men fled or surrendered in mass, and the huge army that had once guarded the border ceased to exist.
Forces
were not in place for many additional encounters between the two armies, and with the winter coming, it was unlikely that many engagements would be fought. Wylan would watch and plan, and come spring, would begin a campaign that would push the enemy back into Ale’ald. It wouldn’t end there, not this time. The decision had been made that Ale’ald would be occupied, and the wizards never again allowed to rise to controlling power. A change in the whole of the Settled Lands needed to be considered.
Now, a week later, Jolan was headed toward the Queen’s special meeting room to discuss with her what might be done with the materials the dragons had left behind. He hadn’t told her about the special items that Iach-Iss had left with him, but probably would explain that he had been gifted with the ability to read their language and might be able to find items that would be worth preserving. The items remaining in the Dragon’s Nest would be safe there. Only Jolan, Shyar, and Asari could enter the area, and could do so whenever they felt it proper. The coded portal would allow them to jump directly into the inner area.
“Jolan!” Chancellor Vaen said, bringing him out of his thoughts as they met in the hall just a short way down from the meeting room. “I haven’t seen you for a couple of days. What are you doing here?” Vaen was obviously leaving from her own meeting with the Queen, and hadn’t expected to see him here.
“Shyar and I were off with Asari for a couple of days. The death of Den-Orok and Iach-Iss hit him even harder than the rest of us. He had a bond with them that we can’t really understand. But to answer your question, the Queen would like to know what we might be able to find useful in the vast array of items the dragons left behind.”
Vaen nodded. “I thought it might be something like that. She asked me the other day, and I said she needed to talk with you. Any change in Cheurt’s status?”
Jolan shook his head. “The staff still implies that he lives, although we don’t know what shape he is in or where he might be. I’d like to know how he escaped from the Academy before I destroyed the place.”
“The man is certainly resourceful,” Vaen agreed. “From what you told me, he must be quite unwell by now.”
“The dragons indicated that even if he survived, he would be weak, almost unable to use his magic at all by now. He would most likely feel like he was dying, and would almost hope he would. It will get even worse before the end.”
“There is no chance he can survive?”
“Very little. According to Iach-Iss, the only thing keeping him alive is the amplifier I made. That continues to supply him with magic that fights the dragon’s energies that infused his body. There is virtually no chance he could come through, which is fortunate, because he would then be immune to the weapon in the future.”
“There is nothing he can do? He has surprised us in the past.”
“If he could get to Earth, then he would most likely survive. The dragons were never able to go there. They always died. Something affects their powers there. If he was on Earth, the amplifier would supply him with sufficient magic to heal, and the forces the dragon’s weapon infected him with would die out quickly.”
“We are certain he doesn’t know about the Nexus?”
“It won’t matter soon. I wanted to consult you later on this matter anyway. I’d like Altz to shut the Nexus down. He’s by far our greatest expert on it, and I know he talked with Iach-Iss before he died about how the node is controlled. I already spoke with him, and he wants to check through his notes, but he could do it first thing in the morning.”
“Isn’t that a drastic step? You told me once that if it was shut down, it probably could never be reopened.”
“Before he died, Iach-Iss pressed me to shut it anyway. He says that the influence of Earth’s technology, and that of the dragon’s, was a corruptive influence on Gaea, which up to now has developed along different lines. They have seen it in the past, where cultures are all but destroyed by too much outside influence. That is one reason they arranged for their devices to shut down after a short time. They left them with us until the war would be won, but then they will cease to function.”
“What about you? Will you go back to Earth before he closes your way home forever?”
Jolan shook his head. “This is my home. My family and friends are here. I’ll be staying.”
Chancellor Vaen smiled. “I’ll tell Altz to go ahead then. Will you be taking him with one of the skimmers?”
“He might as well use one of the portals. Once the Nexus is closed down, there is nothing in Tilano that would matter. The few wizards that could find their way there and are willing to risk being caught won’t find anything else. We have combed the area thoroughly.”
Jolan thanked her. “I’ll stop by after this meeting. Perhaps you should stay. There might be matters that are of interest to you.”
Vaen nodded, and together they made their way back down the hall and into the room where the Queen waited.
After waiting a couple of minutes to be sure that the Chancellor and Jolan were settled in the room down the hallway, Denelere slipped out from the small cove in the adjacent hallway where she had hidden when she had seen the two of them meet. From her concealed position she’d been close enough to hear everything that had been said. She’d heard that Cheurt was extremely ill, but from what she’d overheard the wizard was dying. She needed to get this news to him immediately. If Earth was his only hope of surviving, he would need to act before they could close the pathway there. Denelere turned and headed back down the hall toward the entrance to the castle. The Queen would be angry when she couldn’t be found, but even if this gave away her cover, the news was far too important to wait.
* * * *
Altz stepped out of the portal entrance and found himself on the wide platform outside the mountain that housed the long tunnel to the Nexus core. He looked pretty good considering the weeks of illness that he had been fighting. It felt good to be doing something again, and despite the almost certain outcome, he was content. He looked up at the sky, the small flakes of snow falling through the glamour and settling on the platform around him. A few struck his face and melted into his beard. Here in the mountains winter had finally come. In another couple of days, the storms would reach Angon and Cobalo itself. He liked the snow. It had always seemed so pure and restful. Sometimes it made things difficult, but on the whole it was his favorite time of year.
He walked toward the tunnel, which remained open from the last visit a few days back. His feet made small marks in the thin layer of white, and moments later he disappeared as he stepped into the surface of the local mini-portal.
A few minutes later, the external portal flickered slightly, and a closely clustered group of three men stepped out onto the platform where Altz had been moments before. They were wrapped tightly in a powerful shield, and protected by one of the triad’s favorite metal barriers. The men searched the area for any sign of others, especially any of the enemy’s mages. The area seemed clear. After a few moments, they shed the protective barrier, but maintained the shield. The barrier wouldn’t protect them against the strange new weapon that had been used so effectively of late. The leader of the group made his way across the platform, following the footsteps in the snow. He paused at the tunnel entrance when he saw the small portal there. After a minute he grinned. Turning and looking around at the remains of the destroyed city, he decided this was real. He nodded to the others, and as a group, they disappeared into the portal from which they had emerged a few minutes earlier.
The platform remained deserted for only a short period. Then the three men returned, followed a moment later by Cheurt, looking a bit weary and ragged. He showed no sign of the wound to his shoulder, the damage having been repaired by one of the wizards who held one of the healing rings. The wizard still managed to hold his head high, and his eyes still flared with a fire that showed he was in charge. He motioned for the leader of the triad to lead the way, and the group walked the short distance to the mini-portal that led to the back of the tunnel
. Looking into the opening they could see the interior, where Altz now worked to pull the coppered barrier off the top of the Nexus platform.
One by one the wizards stepped into the mini-portal, with Cheurt once again bringing up the rear. He wasn’t so strong that he wanted to fight. That he would leave to the triad if it became necessary. At first he had assumed this must be a trap, but the manner in which Denelere had come across the information, the fact she had always been right in the past, and the fact the information fit his deteriorating condition, made him decide it was worth following up. Now it appeared that it was true. Ahead of him was the Nexus. Now he understood what Jolan had done to him.
Altz suddenly became aware of those behind him, and he turned sharply to face them.
“Who,” he started to say, but the triad leader wasted no time on the old fool.
The blast of fire-wrap engulfed Altz suddenly, and within seconds the old mage was gone.
Cheurt nodded in satisfaction. That couldn’t be faked. He stepped forward now that the chamber was clear of everyone but his own men. He stepped onto the Nexus and felt the power. This was how Jolan had managed to bring back so much. All the while he himself had been making the transitions using a shadow of the true capability. If only he could have found this earlier. They might be able to shut down the Nexus before he was well enough to return. It depended on whether any others had the knowledge the dead mage was supposed to have learned. If they did, then Cheurt would be the only powerful wizard on Earth. He had the amplifier that he knew Jolan would have built to work there. There was little left here for him anyway. He’d be an old man before the core of wizards could be rebuilt.