by Rick Field
She could feel the energy trickle into his exhausted reserves. While it wasn't as fast as she had hoped it would be, it was at least steady and she could take her complete focus off the process. While he reloaded, her mind was free to wander.
Danulia's magic was far outside her conscious knowledge. With it, she had been able to devise traps that drained energy straight from the environment. There seemed to be limits; the fire-trap had used the heat from the environment, while the lightning trap had required a positively and a negatively charged circle in order to create a jump of current.
The ability to create spell-like effects without needing an anchor or a magical core to power them was unheard of. It was well-known that an anchor had limits to the amount of energy it could convert, and how efficiently it could do so. She herself had experienced that first hand when her first-ever construct, a glass-like snake called Ouroboros, had been powered by one when fighting a berserk experiment of hers that had gone wrong. In theory, the anchor should have given Ouroboros an unlimited, inexhaustible source of energy. In practice, the output of power from an anchor was severely limited, and once the drain of energy exceeded its ability to generate, anything anchored to it would fail immediately.
The ability to tap into the environment directly would mean that, at least theoretically, a person's reserves would expand greatly; the only energy required would be the energy to do the conversion itself, while the environment would supply the energy from the actual spell-result. It would help immensely if a Mage would no longer be required to expand enough energy to create a fireball, but instead be able to gather the ambient heat to create the fireball.
Her mind worked on the problem, and once more she thought about invoking the elemental spirits. Water would give her the wisdom needed to understand the problem, yet she risked earning its ire by calling upon it too often.
She mentally glanced at Milor. He was about halfway to waking, and her focus shifted. Liane hadn't been able to glean a lot from the two traps she had encountered, and reverse-engineering the spells' components would be all but impossible.
The Pillar continued to work the problem until she felt Milor start to wake. A shift in focus revealed that yes, he was waking, and that it had taken her almost an hour to do so. She pulled herself from her trance and blinked her physical eyes open, glad that she hadn't been found by Danulia or her henchmen while under so deep.
“The Tax Wards!” Milor shouted, abruptly sitting upright, before frowning in confusion.
“Yes,” Liane said, drawing his attention. “Someone breached the protections on the Tax Wards, wrote a new Spell Matrix into them, and turned them up to the level where they rendered everyone unconscious.” She slowly stood up, and offered her less-burnt hand to the confused Warlock. “It is good to see you awake, My Lord.”
The young man stared at her for a few moments, absorbing what she had said, then grasped her hand and allowed her to pull him to his feet. “It is good to be awake, My Lady. Although I must admit that I did not even realize I was asleep until you woke me.”
“It is likely that Danulia of the Runes was quick enough in her actions to render everyone comatose before anyone realized what was happening, My Lord,” Liane offered.
Milor nodded, then glanced at her, and paled noticeably. “You are injured,” he stated. His tone was glacial, as if affronted personally by her injuries.
She shifted uncomfortably, not liking the reminder of her near death experiences. She turned, grasped Lucifer from where it was balancing upright, and made to leave. “We should find Danulia, My Lord. Who knows what else she is doing?”
“Who did this to you, My Lady?” Milor demanded. His tone, if possible, was even colder now.
“I have been under constant attack since the city became incommunicado,” Liane replied. “The Pillar Safe House at Eunan was destroyed with explosives, three Pillars deceased. I was accosted on the open road, challenged, and offered the chance to walk away and wait for the replacement government. I refused to break my oaths, and was attacked again, again, and again. Three times I had to seek shelter; once with the Druids, who refused; once behind the walls of Lord Pertogan's dwelling, who sheltered me, and who had his household treat my wounds and ease my stay. The last time was in the Forest of Philip, where I reactivated the protections on the castle of Veyrùn the Necromancer.”
Milor had his eyes closed, then slowly shook his head. “They dared... they dared,” he muttered, as if repeating it to himself would lessen its impact. “I am going to bring the full might of Kiria against them.” The Crown Prince sighed deeply. “Danulia of the Runes. Who would have expected?” his fists balled, and he looked at her. If he hadn't been her friend and if she didn't have absolute faith in that he would never harm her, she would have taken a step back. Despite Decorum, the man looked absolutely furious.
“May I ask what has happened here, My Lord?” Liane asked, hoping to distract her friend from going on a rampage. With the traps out there, blindly running along corridors would get a person killed.
Milor drew a deep breath, grabbed control over himself, and turned to face her. He motioned for one of the visitor's chairs that were still stood in front of his desk, then perched against it as she sat.
“The first notion of trouble came when you reported that Lord Marcel of the Rising Trees had broken his oaths and involved himself in treacherous acts. We did not know it yet, but in hindsight, it was obvious. The sabotage you found in the Great Barrier would have propagated, and it would have taken every Pillar out of the Capital in an effort to repair the damage. The fact that you were the one dispatched, and that you were able to repair the damage, then confronted Lord Marcel obviously derailed the plans of Danulia. Again, obvious hindsight. We thought it an aberration, and continued the investigation, which was focused on Lord Marcel up until then.”
He sighed. “We did not realize the extent of the treachery. When the city's shields were wrested from our control, and were lifted to their full power, that was when we knew that this was far broader in scope than we knew. We focused our attentions as best we could on both the investigation and bringing down the shields. The Lord Master of the Academy was most helpful. Thankfully, high government officials were still able to temporarily allow access through the shields; communications may be interrupted, and none were able to travel freely, but we were at least able to bring food and produce into the city.”
Her friend looked awful as he pinched his nose. “Unfortunately, we spent our efforts in the wrong places. While we focused on the investigation in the city and on bringing down the shields that had escaped our control, we should have focused on the palace. The last thing I remember was the Tax Wards slipping from my control. The next moment, you woke me up.” He opened his eyes and looked at her. “Your report?”
“After Lord Marcel, I was gravely injured and Master Xard spent some time healing me. I believe I reported in after this. On my way home, I was accosted by villagers who claimed to have captured a demon.”
Milor choked. “A demon, My Lady?”
“Thankfully, it was not a demon, My Lord, take no fear. What they had captured was a man from beyond the Great Barrier. The sabotage had weakened the anchor I investigated, and the man was able to cross through... erroneous circumstances. Did you know that men beyond the Barrier have some sort of flying machines? Unlike our floaters, they do not seem to be built for safety, and are able to reach far greater speeds and heights. The Barrier, once back to full power, disabled his... airplane, he called it... and forced it to crash. The man is white, unhealthily pale for us but it seems to be his natural skin color. I saw many of them while in New York City. I contacted the Overseer and alerted her to the presence of the foreigner, and received permission to investigate. After administering Truth Serum, I found the man to be clear of malicious intent. I called the Overseer back, reported my findings, and reported that I would be escorting the man back to the Capital myself. I was logged as being on duty doing so. After I ensure
d his crashed machine did not injure anyone or damage anything, I took him with me to the Capital for proper processing. I know I was within rights to execute him for breaching the Barrier, yet I firmly believe him to be harmless and with some memory adjusting, he should pose no threat.”
The Crown Prince nodded. “I can understand your reasoning. Only use violence when necessary, not when other avenues are available.”
Getting uncomfortable looking up at him, perched on his desk, Liane got up from her chair and perched next to him.
Milor didn't seem to mind, and now more or less face-to-face, she continued. “I started escorting him back. We took shelter in the safe house in Eunan, then proceeded on our way. That was when I was first attacked. This attacker had three constructs with him. Needless to say, I was victorious, but dispatching three constructs injured me while the attacker fled. I attempted to report the attack. That was when I found that communication was impossible. I contacted Eunan. Lord Morden of the Weeping Willow investigated, and spelled me back – in the middle of our conversation, the spell broke. I was then unable to reach him, and the spell failed in a known fashion. Lord Morden was dead.”
Her friend looked grave. “That was when we were confronted by the same Warlock, and the question of what happened to the Pillars in Eunan was answered. The safe house was destroyed, apparently through a catastrophic sabotage of the defensive wards.” She explained about the multiple attacks, reaching the Druids, being denied, receiving help from Lady Monolith regardless, more attacks, reaching Lord Pertogan's house, and finally being able to catch a breath and get some healing.
Aware that Milor didn't like Pertogan for some reason, Liane didn't dwell too long on the amount of help the Necromancer had given her and her magic-less companion, before explaining how they managed to reach the Forest of Philip, where she protected them by reactivating the ancient protections. Milor shared a tiny smile with her when she recounted the ease of restoring them after being the one to have broken them in the first place.
When she finally finished, Milor looked grave. “We must stop Danulia and regain control over the city's protections,” he said, standing up from where they had been perched on the desk, as if they had merely shared a talk. “First, we must go to the Imperial quarters,” he stated, starting to walk. She followed immediately.
“What do you require, My Lord?” she asked. “I thought we would go to the throne room, where Danulia is most likely at work trying to break the protections on the throne and claiming the imperial title for herself.”
“There is something there we both require, My Lady,” her friend answered calmly. “Before we confront Danulia, we must make sure you are in a good fighting shape. As such, we will heal you. At the same time, I require guidance, so we will gain said guidance.”
Liane ignored his statement about needing guidance, and focused on her healing instead. “You wish for me to wake a Healer, My Lord? I must say that I may be able to exclude people from the Tax Wards, but the only reason I was able to wake you was because of my intimate knowledge of your magic. Years of blood magic experimentation has made sure I probably know your magic better than you know it yourself,” Liane said. “I am not sure if I will be able to wake anyone else. I will try, of course, if that is what you wish.” She knew she was babbling, but was unable to help herself. After the week she had just had, just being near to Milor made her giddy. Milor was awake and uninjured, he would take care of things now.
“No, My Lady,” her friend said, a faint tug at his lips indicating that he was amused at her speech. “I do not want you to wake a Healer. As you only woke me, I halfway expected you to have a good reason for doing so, rather than waking my father, for example. No, My Lady, there is something in the Imperial quarters that can help you.”
“Mostly I decided to come to you first because your Lord Father scares me,” Liane admitted, and for a moment it looked as if Milor would burst out laughing. “What would be im-” she broke off her question, grabbed Milor, and pushed him out of the way just in time to avoid another fire-trap.
“Next time, My Lady, a verbal warning will suffice,” Milor replied, halfway amused and halfway angry at how she had manhandled him. He glared at the trap. “They dare to trap my palace?”
“The palatial protections are down, My Lord; It is part of why I am so injured now,” the Pillar informed him. She closed her eyes, and blind-cast her entropy spell. She could feel it connecting something, and felt the magical signature ebb away. “It is gone now.”
Milor looked at her. “Did you just cast a spell at a target you could not see, My Lady?”
She shrugged. “Yes, My Lord.”
He shook his head. “You turn ever more frightening, My Lady. And I mean that in the nicest, most sincere way.”
The Mage smiled faintly; it had been quite some time since he had complimented her ability to come up with new spells. Her happiness vanished immediately when she thought about the trap and the way Danulia had set them up.
He drew a breath. “I must let go. This is no longer my home. It is unprotected and has been trapped by the enemy. My complacency nearly got us killed.”
“I almost fell to such a trap myself, My Lord,” Liane spoke gently, looking at her blistered hands. “This is no longer the palace we knew.”
Milor glanced at a fallen Assistant, the young man still clutching the documents he had been ferrying to an unknown destination. He breathed, shallowly. “I know, My Lady. I know,” he just said, continuing to walk.
They went on in silence, and Liane had to disable a further two fire traps before they reached their temporary destination. A quick sweep revealed it to be empty of traps.
“We are lucky that our enemies seem content with merely trapping corridors, and not rooms,” Milor said as he closed the large double doors.
Brandishing her staff, Liane threw a barricade spell at it, and the two large doors, made from the most expensive wood in Kiria, vanished into the wall. For a moment, she shook her head at having forgotten to use those spells earlier. Both of them would have been far safer if the barricade had been up while she revived Milor, or during their conversation. At least this time, her oversight hadn't cost them anything.
“Follow me, My Lady,” Milor said, nodding once at the sight of the unending wall where a set of doors used to be. She merely dipped her head, and followed. The willingness to talk had left her. Now that she had reached Milor and the imperial quarters, she felt an immeasurable weight fall from her shoulders. He would be the one making the decisions now. She was no longer the one upon which everything rested.
There was a reason why she detested politics; she had no stomach for making hard decisions.
She watched Milor open a safe, protected by both blood and word, and withdraw a glass bottle containing some murky red-glowing liquid. He said nothing, and simply motioned for her to follow. Obediently, she followed.
He showed her to a bedroom, and for a moment, Liane thought that her friend had some dishonorable intentions toward her. She must not have hidden her thoughts well enough. “This is one of the bedrooms in our guest quarters, My Lady,” her friend said. “Please drink this and lie down. It is Panacea.”
She blinked at the offered bottle. Panacea? The mythical cure-all created from the Stone of Magi, the Philosopher's Stone? The highly regulated, strictly controlled substance that would heal any injury or illness?
“The cost of this,” she whispered, releasing Lucifer and accepting the bottle with both hands, suddenly extremely nervous about dropping it.
“It is indeed extremely expensive and very highly restricted, My Lady. It is likely that single bottle could purchase you half the Lower City. Luckily, being of the Imperial Family of Kiria has its advantages,” her friend replied. “Now, please rest so that your wounds may be healed. Also, be aware that it will not touch your magic, and that it will treat scars as damage, so you will lose those as well.” For a moment, it looked as if he wanted to say anything else, then refrained
.
She had noticed, however, and tilted her head slightly. “My Lord? You were about to add something else.”
His blush was bright, and it caught her by surprise. “As a woman,” he said, turning and staring at a wall that held a decorative glass cabinet displaying various nick-knacks, “You will also find that... that is to say... if you have been with a man...”
She was grateful he was looking away, or he would have caught her own explosive blush. “Say no more, My Lord,” she said urgently, and turned to the bed, away from him. So she hadn't been with a man yet. Her chosen profession was difficult and required frequent travels, so what?
She eased herself into the comfortable bed, on top of the covers, and pulled the stopper out of the bottle. The Panacea smelled vaguely of unidentified fruits, somewhat citrusy and fresh. She drank the two mouthfuls of liquid, and barely managed to put the bottle on the nightstand before her eyes closed and she felt herself fall to sleep.
Her sleep was not deep or restful, her overtaxed mind conjuring images of magic and traps, of the unique way Danulia's spells seemed to work. Fear that had been kept at bay while awake struck at her now that she was asleep. As if caught in feverish nightmares, her mind cast about, trying desperately to understand how and why, trying to conjure up the theory behind Danulia's spells. The unknown struck fear into the hearts of the strongest of people, and Liane's fitful dreams would cast away that unknown, to bring it into the light of understanding. There was a reason her Legendary Work was named The Light of Knowledge battling the Darkness of Ignorance.