by Clayton Wood
“We can if we make a runic to do it for us,” Kyle insisted. He turned back to the Captain, feeling the same burst of excitement he'd felt when he'd first told Master Banar about the K-Array. “Do you have any large crystals?” he asked.
“We're carrying quartz blocks,” the Captain replied. “In various colors. We sell them to high-end optics manufacturers to make tinted lenses.”
“Can I see them?” Kyle pressed. The Captain nodded.
“Of course,” he replied. “What are you planning?”
“Quartz stores magic pretty well,” Kyle stated. “If I can get a big enough crystal, it should be able to hold enough magic to power the invisibility field while I'm sleeping.”
“I'll bring you down to the cargo hold after we finish eating,” Grotes offered. Kyle remembered his still-grumbling belly, and dug in to his food, making quick work of it. He thought about asking for a third plate, but decided against it. He looked up to find the others having long since finished their own meals. They were looking at him with funny expressions on their faces.
“What?” he asked.
“Never seen a boy your size eat like that,” Grotes admitted. “You sure you're done?” Kyle nodded, wiping his mouth with his napkin.
“So now what?” he asked. The Captain sighed.
“Now we change course,” he replied. “We'll seek amnesty northeast of Verhan, in the Shimmering Isle.” Grotes nodded.
“Our cargo should more than pay our way,” he agreed. “And they don't extradite to Verhan.”
“Wait,” Ariana interjected. “We need to get to Verhan!”
“That's out of the question,” the Captain retorted. “We'd never make it to port alive.”
“But...”
“We appreciate your help,” Grotes interrupted. “We really do. But we can't risk the lives of every man on this ship just to get you there.”
“So what are we supposed to do?” she pressed. The Captain raised one eyebrow.
“Why do you need to get to Verhan?” he asked. Ariana glanced at Kyle, who cleared his throat. He thought about lying, but there really wasn't any point.
“We don't,” Kyle admitted. “We need to get somewhere nearby.”
“Can you be more specific?” Grotes pressed. Kyle paused, then nodded at Ariana. She glowered at him, but reached down to the one of the backpacks at her feet, retrieving the rolled-up map. Grotes and the Captain cleared the dishes near her, and she unrolled the map on the tabletop. She pointed to the small red circle northwest of Verhan.
“That's where we need to go,” she told them.
“Let me see that,” the Captain said, slipping on a pair of reading glasses and peering at the map. He frowned, jerking his eyes up to look at Kyle, then Ariana. “That's the Barrens,” he declared.
“The Barrens?” Kyle asked. The Captain stared at Kyle for a long moment. Then he leaned back in his chair.
“You're telling me,” he stated, “...that you need to get to the Barrens, and you don't even know what it is?”
“We need to get to wherever this is,” Ariana replied, tapping her index finger on the red circle. “That's all you need to know.”
“Well that isn't all you need to know,” the Captain declared, his tone suddenly sharp. “...because going anywhere close to the Barrens is suicide.”
“Why?” Kyle asked.
“The Barrens,” the Captain replied, “...is surrounded by the Barren forest, which is inhabited by a tribe of extraordinarily dangerous savages.” He sat back in his chair. “I'll give you both credit, you're skilled Weavers. But I can guarantee they're much, much better.”
“Wait, they're Weavers?” Kyle asked. The Captain nodded. “I thought magic was forbidden in Verhan.”
“It is,” the Captain agreed. “But we're not about to tell the Barren tribes that. Our military won't go near their forest, not with all the Neutralizers in Orja.”
“I don't get it,” Kyle said. “If you can neutralize any magic, why can't you go near the forest?”
“Neutralizers don't work on them,” Grotes explained. “And don't ask why, 'cause nobody knows.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “But we do know this: they will kill anyone that enters their territory. It doesn't matter how powerful you think you are...you go to the Barrens, you die.”
“Who are these people?” Ariana asked. The Captain rubbed his chin.
“No one is quite sure,” he admitted. “Our anthropologists suggest they're descendants of the original tribes that lived around the Barrens before the first Empire massacred our ancestors.” He gave Ariana a tight smile. “Even your Ancients failed to conquer those tribes...and they were much better Weavers than any alive today.”
“How do we get there?” Ariana pressed. The Captain and Grotes glanced at each other, then back at her.
“I don't think you're hearing us right,” Grotes muttered. Ariana leaned over the table, unfazed.
“What do you care?” she retorted. “It's our funeral. Just tell us where to go.”
The Captain stared at her for a long time, drumming his fingers on the table agitatedly. Then he shifted in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest.
“The Barrens is northwest of Verhan, on the mainland,” he stated, pointing at the red circle on the map. “We're going to the Shimmering Isle, which is an island city north of Verhan, and twenty miles from the coast. If you go due west from the Shimmering Isle when we hit port,” he continued, tracing his finger from a small set of islands west to the coastline, “...you'll be about one hundred-fifty miles from the Barrens.”
“But how do we find the Barrens after we get to the coast?” Kyle asked. The Captain frowned at him.
“Ideally you'd have a compass and a detailed topographical map,” he replied. “Which this,” he added, pointing at the map, “...is not.”
“Well that's no help,” Kyle grumbled. Grotes smirked.
“The Barrens are at the foot of a mountain range,” he stated. “The Barren forest is south of the tallest mountain. You can't miss it.”
“What does the mountain look like?” Ariana asked.
“Like a damn mountain,” Grotes replied. “You can't miss it.”
Ariana glanced at Kyle, who nodded. It wasn't what they'd planned, but it was better than nothing. At least they knew where to go now. But they hadn't counted on the Barren tribes. If these people were as dangerous as the Captain and Grotes believed them to be, how were Ariana and Kyle possibly going to get past them?
“Drop us off at the Shimmering Isle then,” Ariana stated. The Captain shrugged.
“Very well,” he replied. “I will do as you ask. But I do believe that you, young girl, were absolutely right.” Ariana blinked.
“About what?”
“It's your funeral,” he answered.
* * *
The morning sun rose above the horizon as Kyle stared at the twenty-odd translucent cubes sitting on the wooden deck of the Defiance, casting the ship in an orange glow. The deck rose upward under his feet as the ship sailed over a particularly large wave, making him feel a bit queasy. He reached into one of the many pockets in his shirt, retrieving the gutroot Slim had given him the day before, and bit off a piece, chewing it vigorously.
“What now?” Ariana asked. She was standing a few feet away, as were Slim and a few other sailors Kyle didn't recognize.
“First I need to inscribe the invisibility rune in one of these blocks,” Kyle answered, gesturing at the quartz cubes. Each was roughly the size of a basketball, and was incredibly heavy, hence the sailors. “I'll need to experiment until I get the size of the field right.” He glanced at Slim. “It might take a while.”
“Go to it Guts,” Slim stated. “We're yours for as long as you need us.” Kyle nodded, then got to it. The thicker the threads of the rune, the larger the field would be. He started inscribing the invisibility pattern, making the threads thicker than he'd ever made them before. When he was done, he stood back, then streamed magic to the cube.
When he looked up from it, he saw the faint blue of the invisibility field some thirty feet away. Beyond that, sailors turned to stare, their eyes wide with wonder.
“Too small,” Kyle muttered, cutting off his magic stream. He tried inscribing again, using the same crystal, making the threads twice as thick as before. He streamed magic again, and saw the blue field some eighty feet away...about halfway to the ship's prow. He turned around, seeing the field extending halfway again, to the rear of the ship...as well as the first field. “Well then,” he murmured.
“What's wrong?” Ariana asked. Kyle cut off his magic stream.
“I'm burning through magic pretty quickly even at this size,” Kyle replied. “I don't think any of these cubes will be big enough to power a full-sized field for very long.” He focused on the quartz crystal again, now with two runes inscribed in it. He created a third rune, this with threads three times the thickness of the first. When he streamed magic to it, three fields appeared: the first two, and a third field that extended a few feet past the prow of the ship...and from the rear as well. He turned his gaze upward to the mizzen-mast – the rearmost mast of the ship, the only one still standing – and found the field easily extending above it.
“Got it,” he declared, cutting off his magic stream. It'd taken a formidable amount of magic to power the three fields; he stood, walking to another quartz cube, crouching before it. He recreated the third field, then tested it, again making sure that the resulting field encompassed the ship...which it did. He stood up, staring at the cube for a long moment.
“What're you thinking, Guts?” Slim asked.
“I need to figure out if the field is warping light correctly,” he answered. “Too much or too little, and people will notice.”
“Why don't you fly beyond the field, and see what it looks like,” Ariana offered. Kyle nodded.
“Can you power the cube while I do that?” he asked.
“Sure.”
Kyle streamed magic to his boots, rising upward and forward from the deck. He soared past the prow – and the edge of the field – turning around as he did so. He saw the ocean before him...and nothing else.
So far, so good.
He continued to fly backward, rising up as he did so. It was then that he noticed a rim of color outlining the massive sphere of the gravity field; while the center of the field was perfectly invisible, the edges were well, sort of like looking into a magnifying glass. The ocean was distorted. He sighed, flying back toward the ship. When he passed the edge of the invisibility field, the Defiance blinked into existence before him. He flew down beside Ariana.
“How is it?” she asked.
“It's close,” he replied. “A little too weak, I think. I'll tweak it using another cube.”
“It uses a lot of magic,” Ariana warned. “I don't know how much longer I could've powered it for.”
“I know,” Kyle muttered. He'd have to figure out a solution to that. But getting the field right came first. He squatted over the cube, staring at it. He knew how to make the invisibility field larger, but Master Lee had never taught him how to manipulate the strength of a runic. He'd learned how to make a flame larger or smaller, and even how to make it float higher or lower, but not hotter. He'd never gotten far enough in his lessons to learn that. Which meant he had no idea how to make the invisibility field stronger.
Well, he was just going to have to figure it out for himself.
He frowned, thinking it through. The thickness of the thread corresponded to the amount of magic he put into a pattern while weaving. The greater the distance of the rune from the surface of the cube, the farther away the pattern was woven – just as when he tossed magic outward great distances with his mind. So what determined how much magic was streamed to the rune?
Then he had an idea; every rune had a thread attaching it to the surface of the mineral, one that wasn't technically part of the pattern. What if he made that thread thicker or thinner? He found the thread, and widened it ever-so-slightly. Then he stood up.
“Let's try it now,” he stated. Ariana shook her head.
“I don't have enough magic.”
“I'll stream some to you,” Kyle offered. He pushed magic toward her, until she held up one hand.
“Okay, go ahead.”
Kyle nodded, flying upward and forward once again. He passed the invisibility field quickly, and kept going until he was far away. When he finally turned to look back at the ship, he saw nothing at all...just the rolling ocean under the perfect blue sky – and the faint blue of the field's magic. Then his eye caught a strange irregularity in the ocean waves, a subtle rippling effect at the edges. It was barely visible, only evident because he knew where to look. A consequence of the field passing through the ocean, no doubt. It would have to do.
He flew back to the ship, landing beside Ariana once again. He smiled at her.
“It's good,” he declared. “We're invisible.” Slim whooped, clapping Kyle on the shoulder.
“Damn Guts,” he exclaimed. “You saved our butts once, and now you've gone and done it again!” He grinned. “Shoulda called you 'Brains,' eh?”
“We still have to figure out a way to power it,” Ariana interjected. “I almost ran out of magic again, and that was only a minute or two.”
“Let me think,” Kyle replied. He tapped his chin with his finger, staring at the cubes in front of him. One cube was hardly enough to maintain the field for very long, and there were no larger cubes available. Once he filled a cube with magic, it would power the rune immediately, so it wasn't like he could make a dozen identical runics and fill them all with magic for use later. They could conserve magic by only using the field when an enemy was spotted, but for that he would need a way to be able to turn the invisibility field on and off, like a light switch. Or a way to store extra magic for the runic, like popping new batteries into a flashlight to keep it going.
Suddenly he had an idea!
“I've got it,” he declared, snapping his fingers. A wonderfully giddy sensation came over him. “Slide that cube...” he ordered, pointing to a fresh cube a foot away, “...within an inch of this one.”
“What you thinking, Guts?” Slim asked.
“You'll see,” Kyle answered. Slim and Guns lugged the cube next to Kyle's. Kyle streamed magic to the fresh cube for a long moment, pushing as much magic as he could into it. Then he stepped back. “Now, slide the cubes together, so they're touching.” Again, Slim and Guns obeyed.
A pale blue sphere appeared around the ship.
“There we are,” Kyle declared, unable to help himself from grinning. “Now pull them apart.” They did so, and the field immediately vanished.
“What's going on?” Slim asked.
“I filled the empty cube with magic,” Kyle answered. “When it touched the cube with the rune, magic flowed to it, powering the invisibility field.” He turned to Ariana. “I can fill all of these cubes with magic, and all we have to do is touch the runic to them to activate the invisibility field...and pull the runic away to turn it off.”
“Wow,” Ariana murmured.
“We may not have enough magic to power the field 24 hours a day,” Kyle continued, “...but if you stay on lookout, with your eyesight you should be able to spot any possible enemies, and turn on the field before they spot us.”
“And I'm strong enough to move the cubes,” she reasoned. She stared at Kyle, a smile growing on her lips. “Kyle, that's brilliant!”
“Damn Guts,” Slim swore, shaking his head. “You're one hell of a Weaver!”
“No, I'm not a Weaver,” Kyle replied proudly. “I'm a Runic.”
Chapter 20
The sun rose slowly above the tree line of the Barren forest, its bright rays lighting on the rocky terrain ahead. Sabin paused to enjoy the sight, seen through one of his Chosen's eyes. Then he focused his attention on the rest of his Chosen, rapidly updating himself on the state of the world.
Kyle had made it back to the Great Tower after his talk
with Ampir. He was with the girl now, getting prepared for bed. Kalibar was in a late-night meeting with the Council. Ampir was still coming for him, flying above the ocean, now nearly at Orja’s shore.
Sabin sighed inwardly, ignored the searing agony of his flesh, concentrating on the task at hand. He returned his focus to his avatar, still slaving over the shard hovering before its grotesque head. It was nearly complete, the shard. Another hour or two of work remained. There was little else to do now but wait.
He paused, then reached out to another Chosen trapped in its Void crystal, selecting yet another memory to relive.
* * *
Sabin opens his eyes.
The perfect blackness of his bedroom greets him, all light deflected by the room's magic, per his request. He cannot sleep any other way; the slightest light or sound never fails to wake him.
He hears a creaking sound close by.
Sabin freezes, feeling his pulse quicken. The noise had come from just outside his bedroom door, by the sound of it. No one is allowed in his suite, without his consent, not unless there is an emergency. He hears no alarm, no indication that such an emergency is taking place. There shouldn't be...there couldn't be...anyone in his suite.
There is another creaking sound, as if weight is being shifted on the wooden floorboards beyond the closed door.
Sabin activates one of the lamps by his bed, setting it to glow almost imperceptibly. Too faint a light for anyone beyond his door to see, but enough for him to make out the outlines of his room. His bedroom, at least, is empty. His heart hammers in his chest, and he contemplates activating his silent alarm, one that would bring a dozen elite guards to his room within less than a minute. He hesitates, knowing that he has powerful defensive wards scattered about his room, many of them well hidden. Some of them he'd made himself.
Light appears from beyond the bedroom door, faint rays shining through the gaps between the door and the door frame.
Sabin bolts upright in his bed, immediately streaming magic to the silent alarm, activating it. He activates the half-dozen rings on his fingers, the amulet around his neck, the earring in his left earlobe. The runics flare to life, surrounding him in layer upon layer of form-fitting gravity shields. He levitates up from the bed until his is standing on thin air a foot above it, at the same time willing the door of his magically sealed safe open. His walking cane flies from the safe into his left hand; a runic weapon of extraordinary power, no one but him realizes its true abilities.