The Commanding Stone Part 23

"I have another idea I'm going to test now," Gerin said. "Don't fret, First Siege. This one entails no risk. At least no risk that I can foresee. But the reward if I'm right..."

"Gerin, what are you planning?" asked Hollin with some trepidation.

"Nothing dangerous, so stop worrying. It's just an idea. I'm going to open the door to the Varsae Estrikavis now." He glanced at the Archmage as he spoke.

He opened himself to magic, let amber power fill him, then directed it into the scepter.

The defensive spells within the scepter had not reset themselves after he'd first unlocked them. If Naragenth had a method for doing so, he had not found it, and would not reset them even if he could. There was no need.

The magic fed the spell at the heart of the scepter, an utterly strange power that drank his magic and unfolded like the edge of a knife, only sharper than the sharpest physical blade. This was a power intended to cut its way between worlds, slicing through the barriers that separated one plane of existence from another.

In a moment a door of dark wood with a gold handle appeared in the air before him, floating above the tiled floor. The sigil of Naragenth, an upright staff bisecting a rayed sun, was imprinted upon it. Below the sigil was a silver crescent. Several of the wizards gasped at the sight.

"This is the entrance to the Chamber of the Moon, which contains the Varsae Estrikavis," said Hollin.

Rahmdil ran his trembling fingers lightly across the wood. "It's almost a miracle that you found this."

Gerin was not looking at the door. He kept his gaze on the Archmage and wondered if his idea was correct.

A moment later his heart fluttered when the diamond in the Ammon Ekril began to s.h.i.+ne with a warm, golden glow.

I was right, he thought.

"By the G.o.ds, what have you done?" said the First Siege.

"I've figured out how to activate the kalaya mithran," he said. He turned to the Archmage. "Has it ever done that before?"

"No. Never." She removed the circlet and placed it on the table.

"Gerin, please," said Hollin. "Enough with your secrecy. Tell us how you knew this would happen."

He quelled his excitement. "The dreams showed us that the kalaya mithran originated in another world. The Varsae Estrikavis exists in another world. I thought perhaps it needed the energy of another world to awaken."

"Remarkable," said Rahmdil.

Rahmdil started to create a complex incantation. Gerin could only follow a fraction of what he was doing, and was amazed at the old wizard's prowess. Rahmdil was doing something far more subtle than anything he himself could accomplish. Strength alone was no subst.i.tute for years-decades, lifetimes-of practice with magic.

Even though he could not understand all of what the Warden was doing, Gerin realized he was attempting to determine if there was a link of some kind between the door to the Chamber of the Moon and the Ammon Ekril. It was an astoundingly complex spell, the likes of which he had never seen before. Like a Seeing in some respects, only an order of magnitude more complicated. Gerin watched as dozens of threads of magic wove about the room, seeking fractures or holes in the very fabric of reality.

The other wizards remained still and silent, watching the Warden work his spell. The threads snaked about the room for several minutes, probing, searching. He wondered how Rahmdil was able to maintain control for so long. It was not a question of strength, but of concentration and will. Amber magic would not necessarily be any more suited to the task at hand than less powerful magic. He found himself admiring the old man immensely.

One of the threads brightened and formed a straight, rigid line between the door and the circlet.

"Ah!" said Rahmdil. "There you are." He made a gesture, and the other threads vanished. "This is what brought the Ammon Ekril to life."

"Is it a particular kind of magic?" asked Gerin.

"It's not magic at all. There is energy flowing from the Chamber of the Moon into the circlet." The Warden of the Archives made another gesture, and a line of pulses along the thread began to move from the door toward the diamond. "There. You can see the direction of the flow."

"What is that energy?" asked Kirin.

"I'm not sure," said Rahmdil. "It has no direct source that I can detect, but maybe we'll discover more once we enter the Varsae Estrikavis. It is a diffuse kind of power."

Kirin created an intricate Seeing spell that he peered at for a long moment. "I think it's simply the fabric of the other world where the library is hidden. It's like"-he waved his hand, grasping for the right words-"the air of that place. It's not coming from a specific thing. I'm not explaining this very well."

"I understand," said Gerin. "This power is a property of the difference between the two worlds."

"Yes, exactly."

"So the world where Naragenth hid the Varsae Estrikavis just happens to be the very world where the kalaya mithran came from?" asked Kirin. "That seems a rather large coincidence."

"Not necessarily," said Gerin. "Maybe that was an easy world for Naragenth to reach. Maybe there's something about it that makes it more accessible than others. We have no idea how he found it or how he created the Chamber of the Moon. But if it is a more accessible realm, perhaps the Atalari found the same path."

"Or all other worlds might create the same kind of energy when doors are opened between them," said Abaru.

"How would the Atalari have used the kalaya mithran if they needed to access another world first?" asked the Archmage. "That is certainly not an ability they were known to have."

"There's no way to know, Archmage," said Rahmdil. "What we did here may have no relation to how the Atalari used this."

They worked at least a dozen spells on the Ammon Ekril itself, attempting to determine the nature of the power causing the diamond to glow. Maddeningly, they could garner no clear insight into its properties. Even the source of the light proved elusive.

"This is absurd," said Marandra. "Is there nothing we can discover?"

"This power is so alien to our magic that I fear there may be little else we can know," said Rahmdil with a sigh.

"Perhaps it's time to be direct," she said. "Let's see if what we've awakened is in the mood to talk."

Rahmdil dispelled the thread of light extending from the door to the Ammon Ekril. The Archmage placed the circlet on her brow. "Did any of you see exactly how the kalaya mithran was used in your dreams?"

"No, Archmage," said Gerin. "We saw it in use, but not how it was used. Our viewpoint was always outside of the wearer."

She closed her eyes. "I sense nothing out of the ordinary. If the kalaya mithran is in here, it remains hidden from me."

"Try calling out to it with your mind," said Hollin.

A scowl of irritation flashed across her face. "I've already done that. And I've used magic as well. But it might as well be a lump of lead for all of the reaction I've provoked."

They decided to leave the Ammon Ekril for a while and explore the Varsae Estrikavis. Gerin, Hollin, and Abaru led the other wizards through Naragenth's library, pointing out unique volumes of lore or devices of magic. Gerin feared that Rahmdil might actually die of joy.

Later, Gerin returned to his rooms and stretched out on his bed, elated that his idea had proved to be right, but also frustrated because they'd made no further progress toward understanding how to use the power within the circlet.

He was almost asleep when someone pounded on his door. In the hallway stood one of his own Khedes.h.i.+an soldiers, his face animated.

"Your Majesty, please, come quickly!" said the man. "Captain Vaules just arrived!"

26.

Balandrick was draining his third cup of water when Gerin swept into the room. "Balan!" he cried out as he hugged the captain. "By the G.o.ds, it's good to see you! Where have you been? What happened?"

Balan felt himself grinning like a fool. "It's good to see you too, Your Majesty. I was pretty sure I wouldn't see a familiar face ever again."

Elaysen and Hollin entered the drawing room. Elaysen threw her arms around his neck. "Oh, Balan, I thought you were dead!"

Hollin shook his hand warmly and welcomed him home. "You seem uninjured."

Images of his rape at the hands of Algariq flashed in his mind, but he angrily pushed them down. "I'm fine."

"Your disappearance was quite mysterious," said the wizard. "We were completely confounded."

"If everyone will be quiet for a bit, I'll explain."

"Please," said Gerin. "Go on."

They sat around a table and listened while Balandrick told them of his captivity at the hands of the soul stealer. Balan watched Gerin's face darken with anger. He knows what I had to endure at her hands, he thought. I wonder if it's anything we'll ever speak about to each other?

He was certainly not going to be the one to bring it up.

He felt overwhelmed once more with guilt and shame when he admitted that he told Tolsadri everything they had learned about the Words of Making. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I couldn't help myself. Her power..."

"I understand, Balan. I know there was nothing you could do. Believe me, I understand."

Balandrick described Tolsadri's attempt to betray Algariq after he'd raised her from the caste of the Harridan, her antic.i.p.ation of his treachery, and their escape from the camp.

"Then she surprised me," he said. "She said she was sorry if she'd hurt me and made me sleep. She said she wanted to be merciful to me, the way you were to her, Your Majesty. When I woke up she was gone, and I was no longer in her power. I was myself again. I couldn't believe how good it felt to simply raise my arm or clench a fist. Being trapped in my body like that was a true nightmare."

"What can you tell us about the Havalqa army?" asked Gerin.

"It's big, disciplined from what I could see, and it's on its way here. After she released me, I made my way here as fast as I could. I had to walk at first because I couldn't find a d.a.m.n horse to save my life! Finally, a few days later, I spied a Havalqa scout and managed to relieve him of his mount. Killed him before he knew what hit him."

"The Archmage must be warned at once." Hollin rose from the table. "Balandrick, once again, it's good to have you back."

They talked awhile longer, then a wizard arrived asking Balandrick to come with him to tell the Archmage all he could of the approaching army. He took his leave of Gerin and Elaysen and followed the wizard to the Archmage's manor house.

On his approach to the fortress earlier that day, he was as impressed with its formidable defenses as he had been the first time he'd sojourned here. This would not be an easy place to siege. But he also knew the Havalqa had substantial powers at their disposal. He wondered if Hethnost had ever been besieged, and asked the wizard escorting him.

"No, it has not," said the wiry man.

"It looks like that's about to change."

"Any army foolish enough to attack us will break themselves against our might. We are not a warlike people, but we can and will defend ourselves with every means we have."

"I hope you're right."

They entered the manor house and made their way to the second floor. "Welcome, Captain," said the Archmage when he entered the room where she and the other rulers of Hethnost waited. "Hollin has told us that you have information about a Havalqa army that is even now marching to attack us."

"Yes, Archmage."

Sevaisan gave Balandrick a hostile stare. "I for one am skeptical of these powers that forced you to confess all you knew of the Words of Making to your enemies."

"I've already explained the soul stealer's powers to you, Sevaisan," said Hollin. "I experienced them myself. Shall we bring King Gerin in here to validate them to your satisfaction? Her powers cannot be broken. It is one of the most insidious abilities I've ever heard of, and I hope I never experience it again. Believe me when I tell you there is as much chance of breaking her powers as there is of you behaving reasonably and showing basic manners to a guest of Hethnost."

Sevaisan looked incensed. "That is outrageous! I am the First Siege-"

"No, Sevaisan, the only outrage is your inability to accept anything that doesn't conform to your rigid-"

"Enough!" shouted the Archmage. "Another outburst like that from either of you and I'll have you both thrown out." She looked toward Balandrick as the two wizards pointedly ignored each other. "Captain, my apologies for that...unseemly behavior. Our long lives do not always confer wisdom or maturity, unfortunately."

"It's quite all right, Archmage. I'm unhappy with myself about what I revealed, but I a.s.sure you there was no way to resist."

"I believe you, young man. I heard Gerin and Hollin both tell of this woman's powers. We won't question it again." She glanced at the First Siege.

Balandrick spent the next hour answering questions about the size and strength of the Havalqa army. He emphasized that he was with it for only a short period of time and that his attention had been dominated and controlled by Algariq.

"Still, what you have told us will be helpful," said the Archmage. "If you have nothing else to add, you are dismissed."

A servant showed him to rooms that had been prepared for him. Balan stretched out on the bed and closed his eyes, but sleep would not come. Finally he got up, pulled on his boots, and went for a walk.

He moved brusquely through the fortress, hoping to tire himself out. He decided to wander some of the garden paths, and then, if he still wasn't ready for sleep, to climb the long slope to the top of the Part.i.tion Rock. He noted a number of wizards and soldiers of the Sunrise Guard moving in and out of the Archmage's manor house, whose windows were now almost fully lit despite the late hour.

Balandrick turned a corner by a retaining wall and saw Zaephos seated on a bench nearby. The One G.o.d's messenger was staring up at the stars through an opening in the trees. He glanced at Balandrick, then returned his gaze to the sky.

"h.e.l.lo, Captain," he said. "I heard you'd returned."

Balan went to the bench but did not sit. "You didn't somehow sense it on your own? I would have thought a divine being would know such things before anyone. In fact, I would have thought that you could have told them what happened to me when I disappeared."

"When not in the mortal realm, my vision is very different. Here, clothed in flesh, most of my power is veiled."

"Yes, you said that before. Near the Watchtowers. You said if you were to release your might, you could level mountains. I still find that hard to imagine. Perhaps the failing is mine."

"It is. Whether you can imagine such a thing or not is irrelevant. A conflict among beings of my rank could easily lay waste to this continent, or reshape it beyond recognition. Mountains leveled, forests turned to ash, rivers and lakes boiled away, the earth torn like parchment with new seas bubbling up from the depths. It happened once before, Balandrick. Long ago, eons before the coming of humankind, there was such a war. In its aftermath, the very laws of the universe were changed to make it far more difficult to ever wage a similar conflict again. I am bound by those laws."

"Is the Adversary?"

"Yes, though he is far more powerful than I."

"You said the laws were changed to make it far more difficult. That doesn't mean it's not impossible. It could happen again."

"It could, but the effort required to wage such a war is substantial. Far beyond any possible gains one side could make."

"So whoever changed the laws made it impractical for your type of being to come down and fight in our little corner of the universe."