Into The Ruins

by Blink, Bob

  “Any idea how it came to be damaged as it was?” Carif asked. She wasn’t as convinced as her Specialist that the staff had no value.

  “They may have destroyed it themselves,” Yathi said, dismissing the matter offhand.

  “Why?” Carif countered. “If it had no value, why would they destroy it? If it was of use, the question is even more pointed. They obviously felt themselves secure in their spot in the Wastelands.”

  “It has been suggested that the Wastelands may have done something to it,” Rynm added.

  “So we really have no idea,” Carif summarized. “I wish we could force an exhibition of their skills without risking their escape.” She sighed. “Is there anything we have learned of use from them?”

  “Each has been drawn aside and questioned. We are certain they don’t speak our language, with one exception. The one with black hair appears to know a few words, which is interesting. Somewhere he has been exposed to the language. That worries me as much as anything we have learned. It suggests that he, and perhaps others, have visited Sedfair in the past.”

  “The maps suggest they have a pathway here,” Yathi added.

  “The maps?” Carif asked. Why hadn’t she been told of any maps?

  “We took a journal from the older one when they were captured,” Yathi reminded her. “At your direction, we had a couple of our trusted experts have a look to see if the writing could be recognized or translated. There has been no luck with that, but just before coming here this morning I was informed that there are several pages of drawings, carefully annotated, but of course unreadable, which appear to show a series of oasis regions in the Wastelands. It is possible they traveled here from wherever they started by means of these protected areas. Kirin told us that unlike the surrounding areas, magic works normally within the green zone she visited.”

  “Can we backtrack these zones to learn where they came from?” Carif asked.

  “If they are like the one Kirin visited, many days of travel through the Wastelands where magic is prohibited is likely required. They could avoid that by using Doorways. We can’t because we have no one familiar with their location. Even if we had a translation of the journal’s text, it wouldn’t allow us to do so.”

  “This is an opportunity not to be wasted,” Carif said thoughtfully. “Not only might we be able to learn more about the origins of the strangers, but we might have a chance to finally understand what is out in the Wastelands. We know how we can get the mental images required, don’t we?”

  “Such an approach is likely to be harmful to the subject,” Yathi said, knowing full well the Saltique was aware of the fact. She’d had the technique used before and knew that the subject seldom survived the attentions of the Readers.

  “A small cost,” Carif replied. “These people might well be behind the Chulls and their attacks upon our people. Can we in good conscience not verify that possibility?”

  “The Reading will be less useful than most,” Rynm reminded her. “Without understanding the language, we will be forced to interpret visual information alone. We could misinterpret what is seen.”

  “A small risk,” Carif replied. “I think we should proceed without delay. Who knows if they have friends who might come looking for them. With the Chulls and Baldari appearing at inconvenient times, we don’t need to be surprised by another threat.”

  “Which one?” Yathi asked. She would be responsible for seeing the Reading take place, even if Kimm would do the actual probing..

  “A reasonable question. Which do you believe is the leader?”

  “One would suspect the woman,” Yathi replied. “Certain actions that have been observed suggest it might be the dark haired male.”

  “Take the woman,” Carif ordered. “If she is, great. We can expect to learn more from their leader. I don’t want the man harmed. If he shows some ability with the language, we should hold him in reserve against the chance communication can be established. Once that happens, more conventional means might loosen his tongue.”

  “I will see to it when we conclude here,” Yathi said.

  “I’ll want reports as soon as anything is learned,” Carif reminded her. “Also, this is to be carried out with the strictest secrecy. I do not want word circulating the Guild of what we have here. Queen Rosul is not to learn until we understand it.”

  “Understood,” both Specialists indicated.

  A glass later, Carif watched as the two women left. The situation was extremely unsettling. She’d long known there were others out there somewhere. These people were dressed not unlike those she had seen in the viewers, so they could be from that place, wherever it was. She also had seen evidence they controlled powerful magic. Magic stronger than any she could perform. Nothing she had seen before suggested it could be activated without the usual preparations. That was very worrisome. She would risk the insanity or death of all of the strangers to learn answers. If these people knew about her country, and were a threat, she needed to know now. Hopefully the Reading would tell something, but in case it failed, she needed to consider carefully how to proceed.

  Chapter 33

  Nals, Capital of Sedfair

  The University was far grander than Fen had dared to even hope. The buildings were made of colored stone of a type he had never seen before, and the smallest structure on the campus grounds was far taller than the tallest building in Slipi. The multistory buildings were open even though it was officially term break. Fen had made a point of walking through the buildings and had been impressed by the generous use of magical glow balls to light the interior, as well as the marvelously precise integration of many well known runes and glyphs into the stone as decoration and reminders of what students like himself were here for. He could sense the precision with which the magical symbols had been crafted.

  A large number of students, mostly upper classmen, had stayed through the break, or at least most of it. Fen had to assume they were pursuing special projects hoping to impress the faculty, thereby increasing their chances of being inducted into the Guild. Most of those he saw were women of course, but he’d seen at least a dozen men who were clearly students. They had looked him over just as he had them, and he sensed a certain camaraderie there, so hopefully he would have friends before too much longer.

  Thus far he’d had only a day and a half to explore, but he couldn’t believe how fortunate he was to have been selected and allowed to come here. Now that he was in Nals, he was pleased he’d been asked to come early. By the time the rest of his class arrived, he would be a step ahead, familiar with the campus, this section of Nals, and would already have learned his way around the parts of the school where the first-year students would spend their days. He’d been assigned an advisor, and would be seeing her tomorrow. He was told she would assign him some basic projects to keep him busy as well as help him become accustomed to the manner in which instruction was pursued here.

  The University was laid out in a very large circle. At the hub were the offices for the instructors, advisors, and administrators as well as the University stores where casting materials and books could be purchased as well as any clothing that one might desire. Encircling the central core was the inner-walking ring, a wide thoroughfare that provided an easy way to access the area where one’s level of classes were held. There were five zones, one for each year of a student’s tenure. Each zone contained a single large building which provided both the lecture halls and the laboratories where all projects were implemented and tested. Moving outward, on the far side of the buildings, was another major walking-ring, which also encircled the entire campus. At precisely ninety degree intervals, walkways led away from the campus and into town, or back to the dormitories, the latter located between the fourth and fifth year facilities, giving the upper classmen the closest access to the campus.

  The dormitories were built into the side of the hill overlooking the campus itself. Most of the rooms had no view except for the large common areas and dining halls that provided
an amazing panorama of the city of Nals. Fen could not believe any city could be so large. He also couldn’t believe the vast ocean, with the ships in the harbor. Raised in the desert, he’d never known such an extensive body of water could exist. He looked forward to each meal where he could choose a table near one of the windows and look at Nals, or at the University, spread out below as he ate.

  He’d been able to select his own room, since the rest of his peers had yet to arrive. For now he was assigned to the top floor, farthest from the access-ways to the campus, but which provided the best views from the balconies. He would have expected the arrangement to have been the opposite, but decided that the older students had become jaded to the scenery and were more focused on their training. Had there been a room with a view he would have selected it, but all individual rooms were located deeper into the hillside. He’d finally selected an end room, one hallway away from the main walkways guessing anything closer would be subject to distracting noise.

  As he approached his room, Fen shifted the load of books he was carrying. This was his second trip to the store, and he knew he had spent more of his reserve fund than he should have, but he couldn’t contain himself. In Slipi he’d been able to find a very limited selection of references and Casting materials. Here they had everything. Yesterday afternoon he had purchased all of his first year books and scrolls, the required items being clearly listed at the entrance to the store, so that he could start reading and get ahead of his classmates. He knew he had to excel, and intended to be ahead from the beginning. Today he’d gone back to see what else was available, and couldn’t keep himself from purchasing several advanced texts and references that he knew he wouldn’t be using very much until at least the second year. One reference collection, which spanned three large volumes and which had been far heavier carrying back to the dorms than it had seemed when he’d picked it out, was an extensive reference of runes and glyphs and a large number of spells. It was something that was available in the library, and would be used only rarely, especially until his fourth or fifth year, but which he’d heard of and now couldn’t believe he owned. It was one of a number of tomes available to students which were clearly marked with notations that they were not be shared outside of those who were enrolled in the Guild.

  “You’re not going to have a place to sleep,” Lyes said, stepping into Fen’s room as he was unpacking his latest acquisitions. “You might want to wait until classes actually start and see which items will really be of use to you. I don’t even have some of these texts.”

  Fen grinned at the upper classman. “I can’t help it. All these years it has been so difficult to find information, and here there is so much I don’t know where to start.”

  “Soon enough you will wish there wasn’t so much. Once classes begin in earnest, you will be so busy you won’t have time to think about anything beyond the immediate assignment.”

  “What are you doing here?” Fen asked. “You’re not working on your project today?”

  Fen knew that Lyes was an upper classman, with only one more year at the University before he took his examinations by which he would be judged and possibly granted entrance to the Guild. His senior project, which Lyes had stayed over the long summer break to get a start on, was one of the key components to that final testing. Being one of the few males on the campus, Lyes had been chosen to help Fen get settled in, especially since Fen had come weeks in advance of the rest of the students and the usual guides and orientation classes wouldn’t be held until later. Fen had to admit, Lyes taking most of the previous day to show him around after he’d selected his room had been extremely helpful. Given the size of the facilities, Fen would have spent days trying to sort it out on his own. The upperclassman had come and introduced himself to Fen as he was settling in and showed the newcomer where his own room was in case Fen needed something.

  Lyes was of medium height with thick brown hair that he wore long enough to brush against his collar. His eyes were brown as well, with specks of gold that flashed when the light struck them a certain way. Fen had dubbed them thoughtful, by the way they seemed to consider everything observed. He was clean shaven, his otherwise thick beard held in check by some kind of magic Lyes had explained, and his white teeth were frequently displayed as he was prone to frequent smiles. Although Lyes wasn’t tall, he certainly was wide. His shoulders were as broad as any Fen had ever seen, and his arms looked strong enough to rip Fen in half. Lyes had told him that his two brothers were even bigger, something that he could barely imagine.

  “I was curious how your meeting with the Saltique went,” Lyes admitted. “It is not often that an incoming student has a personal audience with the most powerful leader of the Guild. I have never seen her except at a distance when she has addressed the entire student body, and I’ve been here four years. I know you were nervous, and thought you might wish to see a friendly face after such an ordeal.”

  “It wasn’t so bad,” Fen said offhandedly. He wanted to sound confident and assured, especially around Lyes who he had come to respect in the short time he’d known him. The senior knew so much that Fen longed to learn, and had apparently done well during his first four years. Fen couldn’t help feeling young and inexperienced around the upper classman. The simple truth was a bit different. The Saltique had been patient and understanding, but Fen felt he’d disappointed her with his lack of understanding and awareness of the magic the strangers had used. He had explained what he had seen, careful not to color what he had observed in any way. But she had probed subtleties of the energy used to control the arrows and burn away Caster Ferkle’s staff that Fen simply could not provide. He’d hadn’t known such detail even existed. The only thing he felt he fully satisfied her with was his positive assurance that no staff had been used, nor had he seen any sign of the usual casting materials required to initiate spells of such power. He hoped he hadn’t disappointed her and thereby affected his chances here at the University.

  “There’s one thing, though,” Fen said, a bit uncomfortable having to bring it up. He shifted uncomfortably as he addressed the matter. “The Saltique made it very clear I was not to speak of the events that had taken place back home to anyone.” He looked appealingly at Lyes.

  “I know nothing,” Lyes promised him. “The subject never came up, okay? I guess the situation is more important than you realized, huh?”

  Fen let out a relieved sigh. The day before when Lyes was showing him around, they had gotten into a discussion about why Fen had come to the University so early. That had naturally led into a discussion of events that had taken place along the border, his travel with his father and the four unusual prisoners, and finally the scheduled meeting with the Saltique. No one had told him that any of what he’d witnessed was to be kept to himself, at least not until the meeting earlier in the day with the Saltique and several of her Specialists. He’d been worried that Lyes might say something that would leak back, getting Fen in trouble.

  “I doubt I’ll hear any more about it from this point on. I can’t see any reason I would be told what happens to them, and my father has already returned home to his normal duties, so he won’t know anything either. I have no idea where they were taken.” Fen couldn’t help feeling unhappy about being cut off from the strangers. Something about their unexpected arrival left him certain that something important was about to happen, and he felt an odd link to them having been the first to encounter them.

  “Best we forget about it,” Lyes cautioned him. “If they told you to keep it to yourself, that means it is something you don’t want to know about. It probably won’t be the last mystery you encounter while you are here, and given the political nature of everything in this place, especially for us guys, it is best not to be seen as showing an interest in the wrong areas. Come on, let’s eat.”

  Fen grinned and pushed his purchases aside. He was glad that Lyes was willing to spend time with him. The truth he didn’t want to admit was that he was very lonely and felt a little lost. Desp
ite the wonders here, and being distracted by the items he had access to, he had never been separated from his family and friends by such a distance, or for so long. He knew it would get better with time, especially when his classmates arrived, even if most would be women, but even then he knew it would be a long time before he fully adjusted to the separation. He wouldn’t be going home again until the end of the term, which was nearly a full year away. It was too far to expect his family to come visit, even at the midterm break. He was glad he had a friend, although he knew that once the term started, Lyes would be busy with his own classes. Upperclassmen were under extreme pressure as it was their last year, and their future depended on their performance in the exams. Only one chance was given, and that added to the pressure.

  Chapter 34

  “What do you think they are going to do with us?” Ash’urn asked. The elder scholar was taking their confinement stoically. He was seldom rattled by unexpected events, even those which he had little control over. Instead, he had been observing everything with great interest.

  “I wish I knew,” Rigo replied. “We have clearly come to the attention of someone in the government.” Contrary to Ash’urn’s reactions to their situation, Rigo was frustrated. He knew that time was against them, and he feared that it would be a long time before he would be able to convince anyone here that he wasn’t a threat and of the importance of his being released.

  “That’s why we were brought here,” Ash’urn theorized. “From the size of the city we saw before being locked up down here I’d say we are in the capital city. If not, then their cities are far grander than anything back in the Three Kingdoms. I don’t think they knew about us,” Ash’urn added, after a momentary hesitation. “Too many of them have passed through to stare at us. They appear surprised by us.”