No. He had to take the risk. Until he had more, he could not use what he had saved.
When he returned, to his surprise Denais had donned a light coat against the evening chill and had his walking stick in hand, meaning he intended to actually walk. The two guards were also prepared to go out with him.
“Korda. We go to seek any sign of enemy magic. You will signal if you see anything suspicious, but do not speak. Now take that and follow us.” Denais pointed to a large, heavy pack.
Korda struggled to lift it on his back, and when it shifted, a familiar sour smell wafted up. A muscle in his arm spasmed and cramped, and he nearly wept. Mineral essence. The mineral essence he desperately needed, but still out of reach. He wanted to scream.
Chapter 19
Sonam called out a cheerful greeting from up ahead, giving Ardhuin enough warning to lower her head and to make sure Dominic hadn’t fallen asleep with his notebook out again. The yak cart did not have a smooth ride, but he was still tired enough he could sleep through the bumps. She, on the other hand, was on foot leading their horses, which were illusioned to look like ragged donkeys and carrying the supplies and gear that didn’t fit in the cart. Sonam was driving the cart, obtained in trade for a few of their camels, which could not support the higher altitudes. The cart was narrow and crudely made and provided an excellent cover for their entry into Bhuta.
Once the road had cleared again, Dominic emerged from his burlap cover. While he claimed he no longer felt the sensitivity of magic, Ardhuin felt it best for him to avoid any magic at all, even mild illusion, until he was fully recovered.
“Shouldn’t they be back by now? It’s been two days.”
“Perhaps they had to go farther than they had planned. Gutrune did mention the troops were delayed in setting out,” Ardhuin said. “Also, I believe the Preusans are taking pains not to stand out.”
Dominic looked skeptical. “It’s not like there’s a great deal of space to be unobtrusive in,” he pointed out. “It’s all narrow ravines and tiny valleys out here. And mountains half the size of Aerope. I wonder if I could make an imager large enough to capture that,” he said, diverted. “If anyone had tried to explain them to me, I wouldn’t believe it either.”
They camped that night on the gravel shores of a shallow, icy river, with a few gnarled bushes for cover. Markus and Gutrune had still not returned.
“I am thinking we should not stop again until we reach my valley,” Sonam said as they sat around the tiny fire. “There is danger. Here, we are travelers that no one cares about. Closer by, the attackers will be present and maybe looking.”
“Isn’t that dangerous too? I mean, some of these roads aren’t very wide, and on the side of rather steep mountains,” Ardhuin said.
Sonam dipped his head with a smile. “This is a quiet magic, of my people. We call it moon–seeing. I will keep us safely on the road. We will stop for rest, for the animals…but not for sleeping. You can also go in the cart, with the horses tied to it. It will not be so bad.”
“I suppose not.” Dominic sounded distracted. Ardhuin glanced at him. He was staring fixedly at the river. “Sonam, does this river come from your valley?”
“It does.” Sonam looked surprised. “How did you know?”
“It has magic. Faint, but definite. I think…” Dominic got stiffly to his feet and searched the banks for a few minutes. He returned with a long branch, which he used to scrape the riverbed. Examining the end of the stick, he gave a satisfied nod. “As I thought. It’s in the soil.”
“Is it strong enough to affect a ward?”
He shook his head. “Just enough for me to detect.”
Still, Ardhuin used extra care in setting up their defenses for the night. A ward, a layer of shadow, and another ward on top of that. It was time to be cautious.
A shuddering in the wards woke her up a few hours later. It took her a few disoriented seconds to realize it was a rather rhythmic shudder, very much like a…knock?
“What’sis…” murmured Dominic sleepily.
“Something is outside.” She reached out, touching the inner ward and stretching it until it contacted the outer one. “It’s magic, but it is rather weak.”
“You mean someone is deliberately attacking but not enough to actually do anything? How ineffectual…oh, I know who it is. He pulled a similar stunt in Baerlen, as I recall.”
Ardhuin removed the shadow, and indeed there was Markus—and Gutrune.
“It’s about time you woke up,” Markus grumbled when she lowered the wards.
“How did you know where to find us?”
“We were fairly sure you would follow this river,” Gutrune’s cool voice came from the shadows. “It was just a matter of time.”
“That, and I recognized the yak,” Markus said brightly. “Then I just wandered about until I tripped on something that wasn’t there.” There was something in his voice that did not sound like his usual cheerful nonsense, and Gutrune was grimly quiet.
Ardhuin sighed. “You don’t have good news, do you.” She gestured them to the fire and opened the wards for them. Then, as an afterthought, extended shadow to include their animals as well. She should have been more careful.
Markus sat down with a groan. “No. No sign of the detachment, nobody recalled seeing them—that is, they mentioned a group of foreigners some time ago but clearly no soldiers. I don’t know what happened to them.”
“It would seem Denais happened to them.” Dominic sounded worried.
“It is possible he did something to stop or misdirect them, but there were no signs of attack either.” Gutrune sat down as well, and Ardhuin could tell she was also very tired. “We must consider the likelihood of the detachment…not arriving in time.”
The sinking feeling in her gut would not go away. They had always counted on the Preusan soldiers in their plans, but now it appeared it was only the five of them. Only five, three with magic, to take a stronghold of Denais’s? No, there was possibly a sixth…
“Then it is even more important that we find and speak with MacCrimmon,” she said. “He will at least be able to give us a clearer understanding of what we must do, and perhaps he can also fight with us.”
Sonam was somber. “He is very ill. The making of the barrier was quite dangerous for him. I do not know how much he can do to help.” He stared at the coals of the fire, his hands dangling loosely over his knees. “We should go now.”
Markus winced. “If needs must—but our horses have done what they can do for the night. They have to rest.”
“Yes. All the animals must stay, and out of sight. I know a place where we can leave them and what we cannot carry ourselves. If this Denais has stopped the soldiers, he will be hunting us now—and he is a magician of great power. Shadow and illusion will not be enough.”
“He’s right.” Ardhuin got to her feet, feeling stiff and irritable and wishing Gutrune and Markus had taken just a few hours more to reach them. “Why not sit in the cart, while we have it, and rest until we get to Sonam’s safe place. I’m sure Dominic can make room.”
“I’m much recovered, you know. I will walk.”
She smiled at him. “We all will, for the last section. Why don’t you ride, then, if you are feeling better?”
The yak, usually phlegmatic and resigned about his work, did not appreciate being yoked up so early. Ardhuin decided to follow her own advice and rode while leading the rest of the pack animals. They would be following Sonam in the cart, anyway, and the road was broader here.
Perhaps it was her imagination, but every sound seemed magnified in the dark. Every clink of harness or creak of the wheel echoed loudly, as did the rushing water of the river. She hoped that noise would mask theirs.
The first signs of dawn were barely visible in the sky, mostly hidden by the towering mountains, when they reached Sonam’s “safe place.” An old man, half blind and unable to speak, lived in a stone hut half a mile from the river. He h
ad a few scrawny goats in a large mud–wall enclosure and was quite willing to let their animals stay for a few silver coins. Sonam was the only one of the party he saw; the others stayed out of sight, hastily arranging packs and hiding, with brush and magic, the rest of their gear near the enclosure.
Sonam hurried them away, glancing at the sky with a worried expression. They were all too fatigued to move quickly, and the road was steep. Ardhuin found herself panting at the least exertion, and dizzy. She focused on putting one foot in front of the other, so determinedly that she ran into Dominic when he stopped suddenly.
“Something ahead!” he whispered urgently. Sonam stopped.
“Where?”
Dominic gestured. “A web. I have seen something like this before.”
Denais. So, they were right. The path was high on the side of the mountain, with a sheer cliff on one side and a steep drop to the river below. Everything was bare rock, and a chill wind whistled down the pass. From Dominic’s indication, the web blocked the entire way.
“We have to get through somehow. Even if there was another route, he’d likely have that trapped too.” She looked at Dominic. “How exactly is it configured? I thought it had to be anchored on both ends.”
He sighed and reached in the inner pocket of his jacket for his precious notebook. He sketched a quick diagram. “It goes up fairly high on the cliff side and angles down like this. A bit triangular, but effective. You can’t really step around it.” He turned his head, squinting at the path. “There’s something else, at the top. Brighter. It’s…hanging in the web.”
Ardhuin thought for a moment. The first time Denais had used detection webs, it was just to notify him if magical items traveled from her house, and ordinary people could walk through without any difficulty. In this case, he was more likely trying to keep people out than keep watch and was less concerned with remaining concealed from the locals.
“It’s probably a trap of some sort. Is there another way we can go?”
Sonam shook his head. “It would take many days—and we should not be here when the sun comes. We must decide what to do very quickly.”
“I doubt Denais would leave any alternate paths open, so we may as well try to find a way to get past this,” Dominic added. “Is there no way to remove it?”
“Possibly, but Denais is bound to have some kind of signal if that happens—and it would be proof that someone with advanced magic was approaching. I wish I could see as you do. I don’t even know what to tell you to look for.”
He scratched his chin. “Why don’t you cast a little bit of what you think it is, and I can compare?”
With Sonam visibly fretting, she did just that. Needing to anchor the threads of magic to rock narrowed the options, but it still took longer than anyone liked. Gutrune had unslung her rifle and had it resting in her arms, facing up the path. Markus was watching the other direction and occasionally glancing at the sky.
“No…yes, that one is very close. The trap has little threads inside the threads, too.”
Ardhuin gritted her teeth and tried again. Dominic gasped, and she glanced at him, worried and readying a magical shield in case she had triggered the trap. But then she felt it herself, in the web of her magic. It felt…heavier, and larger.
“Did it just…”
“Yes! The large web merged with your little one. The anchor points are still there, and the bright lump. Can you remove it now?”
She smiled. “I have a better idea.” Now she had control over the web, and she could shape it to her purposes. She merged another web, more dense and stronger but designed to move at her command. She forced an opening in the middle of the web, large enough for them to pass underneath without stooping.
Dominic pointed out the edges of the hole to the others, and with great care they stepped through. Ardhuin closed the hole behind them, making sure she could still find her patched–on magic after releasing contact. They might need to do this again.
“Oh, that was very clever. And if they examine it somehow, it should look like nothing has happened. It just looks…stronger now.” Dominic looked quite intrigued, and like he would welcome further time to study it. But Sonam was all but dragging them by the arm to get away, and she could see the dawn light getting stronger and angling down farther into the ravine.
Despite the fatigue, despite the thin air, they ran. Ten stumbling steps at a time, ten steps walking, ten running. They crested the top of the trail just after the bright sun became visible over the cliffs, and then they ran downhill. Ardhuin was gasping for air, black spots dancing across her vision. She could not fall. She must not fall.
For all that, she nearly did, running into Sonam. He had stopped, and it took her a moment to understand why.
“This is the place.” He pointed to a slope of rubble against a cliff face. “My master is here.”
His dreams had stirred slowly during his time in stasis. In one sense MacCrimmon knew time had passed, but in another it seemed he had merely closed his eyes on Sonam’s sorrowful face and opened them to see him again. The first impulse was fear, that the vital stasis had somehow failed to take hold. But then he noticed how Sonam’s face had changed, his expression more confident and mature, and he was wearing clothing MacCrimmon had never seen before.
His own clothing was covered in gritty dust. “How long?” he managed to say before being overcome by coughing.
“Ten months.” Sonam held a canteen for him to drink. “The barrier still holds, but it is much weaker.”
Good. MacCrimmon rested a moment. “And Morlais? Did you find him?”
“I sorrow to say, his spirit is one with the sky. But in his dwelling I found his heir.”
“Ah. That was the risk. Yves was quite old, but somehow I never thought he would get around to dying…this heir, you have brought him, then?” His vision was improving, and he saw a young man with intelligent, bright eyes and a sharply angled face watching them in the shadows of the cave. “Thank you, sir, for coming. I assure you the need is great.”
“I am not the one you should thank—although I have come to assist you, I am not a magician,” the man said apologetically. He spoke Alban with a strong accent, Gaulan—or more likely, Bretagnan. “I am Dominic Kermarec. We thought it best to introduce ourselves gradually, since you are unwell and we…you could say we are uniformly unconventional and might prove more of a shock than it would be wise to expose you to all at once.”
Confusion and irritation tumbled about in his mind. “I appreciate your consideration, but my health is of little importance compared to the dangers here. Where is Oron’s heir? I must speak with him immediately.”
“A matter of some difficulty,” said another voice in the shadows. A ball of magefire illuminated the speaker, a man with bronze skin and dark hair with a startling slash of white. “If you permit—Markus Asgaya, schutzmagus of the Imperial Preusan Court, and just now returning is Fräulein Gutrune von Kitren…also of the Preusan Court, shall we say.”
The golden–haired woman gave him a graceful nod, for all the world as if she were at a society function instead of in a filthy cave and carrying—he blinked—a rather unusual and deadly–looking rifle. She was wearing a greenish tweed hunting outfit and had a game bag slung over her shoulder. An older man with a military bearing followed her.
“We had hoped to arrive sooner, and with more resources, but your adversary has been active and was nearly successful in preventing us from reaching you at all,” she said. Her Preusan accent was light and her voice cool and calm.
“Ma’am, I am astonished that a lady like yourself would be willing to make such a long and dangerous journey, or that your government would permit you to go.”
This seemed to greatly amuse Asgaya, and Kermarec developed a cough of his own. The young lady herself showed no reaction beyond polite interest.
“We should be able to get the rest of our gear up the path with another trip, when it i
s darker. The old man will take the animals back again,” she said to the others.
“And Ardhuin?” Kermarec asked.
“Arranging further protections for the entrance.” Gutrune von Kitren turned her head. “Here she is now.”
Another lady? And so it proved, a tall, striking young woman with fiery red hair and a self–effacing manner. Like Miss von Kitren she was dressed in male attire, which while undoubtedly sensible was jarring.
“I do not understand.” MacCrimmon felt suddenly dizzy. Had he fully recovered from the vital stasis? “Why are you here? This is not an occasion for an excursion or entertainment. The danger here is extreme, and—”
“I know. The magical salts.” The young woman regarded him steadily. “You aren’t going to like this, I am afraid. We tried to break it to you gently…I am here because you sent for me. Yves Morlais was my great–uncle, and I am his heir.” Before MacCrimmon could do more than open his mouth to protest, she gestured. The golden fire of the gloire surrounded her, illuminating the entire cave. “I am Ardhuin Kermarec, and I am the Mage Guardian of Bretagne.”
Chapter 20
Dominic had to admit, Alastair MacCrimmon adjusted rather quickly to the unusual situation once he had been convinced of Ardhuin’s bona fides. It was less a matter of the gloire, strangely enough, but her matter–of–fact summation of the traps and her method of dealing with them. MacCrimmon instantly seized on her intellect and power, appearing to completely forget her gender in his interest.
Dominic’s own abilities had also come under scrutiny and appeared to greatly cheer MacCrimmon.
“A scryer! Now that’s a handy thing. So this Denais fellow is behind it, eh?”
“He has extracted power from human magicians before, so it does not surprise me he learned to somehow extract it from the natural magic of Sonam’s valley.”
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