Light in the Barren Lands: Travail of The Dark Mage Book One (42 page)

His cry alerted those waiting below just in time for them to turn and watch him slam into the floor. “Medic!” one agent shouted as he raced for the ladder. Gun drawn, he started climbing the ladder when he encountered a barrier similar to that which surrounded the castle.

“They’ve got this blocked!” he yelled to those below.

The agents stationed at the stairwell found a similar obstruction not more than three feet farther up.

The medic called for a stretcher while another radioed the situation to Mr. Barnes. Agent Farmer still lived, but he had suffered serious injury when he fell.

“Can we gain access to them?” relayed the agent speaking with the Task Force leader.

“Negative. All ways are barred.”

A noxious odor began to permeate the area. Mildly unpleasant at first, it quickly began to increase in intensity. Soon, men were coughing, some even gagging as the odor grew from unpleasant to downright vile.

“Sir!” the agent shouted over the radio to Mr. Barnes. About to continue, he was overcome by a fit of coughing.

“What? What is it?”

Getting himself under control, the agent gasped as he said, “They’re gassing us.” Then another fit of coughing wracked him.

“Get out of there now,” came the order.

“Out!” the agent yelled. “Fall back to the tunnels below!”

Most had come to that conclusion and were already evacuating. Two men saw to Agent Farmer’s withdrawal. Very shortly, the entire area was clear.

As soon as the men were in the tunnels, James sealed it off. “There, that should allow us some peace and quiet to get this done.”

“They are gone?” asked Jiron.

James nodded. “Yes.”

“How did you do it?”

Unable to keep the grin from showing, James said, “I coated the area with my bug repellent.”

“Not that vile stuff you used in the swamp?”

“The same. Only this time, ten times as unpleasant.”

“No wonder they cleared out of there,” chuckled Jiron. He well remembered how at normal strength, James’ bug repellent had been almost more than
he
could bear.

James checked the area below once more to ensure there were no other surprises waiting for them, then returned to his position before the
Vyrilyzk.
Once Jiron and Jira were again on the other side of the room, the orb vanished and he resumed his efforts to contact the earth spirits.

Tapping again into the crystal on the ground before him, he created his bubble of peace and welcome then began to hum once more. The tune that came to mind was one of the many lullabies Meliana had sung to Kenny when he was just a babe. The melody brought him added peace and feelings of home. Jira joined in, for it was a song her mother had sung to her as well. After a moment, Jiron too added his baritone. No words did they sing, merely humming a tune that brought to mind a better time.

A presence appeared by the
Vyrilyzk
. An earth spirit had come.

James reacted not at all as the little creature reached for an apple. A moment later, the creature and apple were gone. “Keep it up,” he said softly to the other two. “One was just here.” Resuming his humming, he waited.

The calm and peace within the dome was a stark contrast to the hectic flurry of activity without. Mr. Barnes, having left his perch high atop The Matterhorn, now marshaled his forces in an attempt to breach the protective shield.

“Can we blow it?” he asked a member of the L.A. bomb squad.

The man just shrugged.

His anger at being balked was manifested by shouts and orders to his men. Those in Washington wanted this situation diffused without damage to the park. Being as it was one of the most beloved places in the United States, they felt it inadvisable to use extreme measures in the apprehension of the terrorists. They were bottled up. And from what Agent Farmer reported before his accident they didn’t
have
a bomb with them, so Mr. Barnes had been ordered to hold position and not exacerbate the situation. They had nowhere to go. It was the general consensus of the powers that be that by morning, the terrorists would be in communication with their list of demands. And until then, he was supposed to wait.

Well, waiting was something Mr. Barnes could never do. He was going to get in there, one way or another.

Five earth spirits now stood near the
Vyrilyzk
. Their eyes, if eyes they had, were gazing toward the human sitting before them. It was hard for James to tell if the one from the time in the desert was in attendance, though he hoped such was the case.

He maintained the humming for some time as others came and went. Three seemed to remain throughout. Finally, when he felt the three were sufficiently at ease, he sent forward the thought,
Friend
.

Friend, yes. Gardener.
Visions came from the three of the desert and of the previous
Vyrilyzk
made of stone with him sitting before it.

Do you know what we plan?

To journey home. We help the Gardener. Friend.

He visualized Jiron and Jira.
They come too. Friends.

Hesitation. Slight agitation. Then acceptance.
Gardener, yes. Friends, yes.

A vision formed in James’ mind, one with he, Jiron, and Jira sitting close together, their knees touching the
Vyrilyzk
. Then in his vision, the three of them vanished.

Sit like that?

Yes.

Images swarmed his mind. The intensity of the invasion pushed him to the brink of unconsciousness. “No more!” he shouted and the images ceased. Behind him, the sound of Jiron and Jira’s humming came to a halt.

“Not you two,” he said. “They…they were trying to give me information.”

“Should we continue?” asked Jiron.

“Yes. Grab our bags and come sit around the
Vyrilyzk
. They say we should be evenly spaced about it with our knees touching the ring.” He created a very low intensity orb that was just sufficient for Jiron and Jira to find their way. As the father and daughter came closer, earth spirits scattered. All that was, except for the three who positioned themselves within the ring of the
Vyrilyzk,
directly across from each of the humans.

“Give me my pack,” he said. “Jiron, make sure the duffle is on your lap.”

Jira spied the little figure on the ring and gave a gasp.

“They won’t hurt you,” James assured her. “They have come to lend their aid in getting us home.”

She grinned at the earth spirit. Giving it a curtsey, she said, “Thank you.” In her mind she heard it reply,
You are welcome, Earth Child
.

“It talked!” she squealed in delight. “It called me an
Earth Child
.”

“Jira, this is no time to get excited,” came the stern voice of her father.

She turned her gaze to where he had already taken his place about the
Vyrilyzk.
“Yes, father.” Then returning her attention to the earth spirit before her, she sat as her uncle had directed.

“Scoot close to the ring, close enough that your knees touch it.”

Jira moved closer. Once her knees were in contact with the outer edge of the ring, she realized the earth spirit was now within her reach. Unable to control herself, she reached out her hand.

“Don’t,” her uncle warned. “They are not to be touched, or played with.”

Fingers but four inches away, it was all she could do to draw her hand back into her lap.

“Now,” said James, “I need the two of you to remain absolutely quiet and still.”

“For how long?” she asked.

“Until
I
tell you otherwise,” her father replied impatiently. “Sit still, and be silent!”

“Yes, father.”

“Jira,” began James, turning his attention upon her, “understand that this will take all of my concentration. Remember what happened out in the desert?”

She nodded. “Yes, uncle. I’m sorry for that.”

“If a similar occurrence happens here, we will never see home again.” He saw her head nod in the faint orb light.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“Yes,” came her reply.

“Absolutely,” replied Jiron.

“Then, we will begin.”

Canceling his orb, he connected with the magic in the crystal lying before him on the floor. Around the park, twenty-three other crystals responded. As he pulled magic from the focal crystal, so too did it pull magic from the twenty-three gatherers.

He could sense the three earth spirits before him, Jiron, and Jira. Three fountains of encouragement and support, that’s how he saw them. Hidden within the darkness surrounding them, were dozens more, each standing motionless, almost expectantly, to see what would transpire next.

Using the
Vyrilyzk
as the center, James began putting in place the spells to send them home. Power surged around him and the others as the spells fell into place. At times during the process, his senses would travel to the three earth spirits standing upon the edge of the
Vyrilyzk
. If they felt that what he was doing was in error, they made no attempt to relay that message. Figuring such to be a good sign, he continued.

Crystals drained as he used their power to set the spells in place. He had known twenty-three gatherers wouldn’t be able to supply the power needed. Fortunately there was another source close to hand.

The focal point, at which the flows of magic converging upon Disneyland connected, was only a few feet above the center of the
Vyrilyzk
. Had that focal point not been there, he never would have even made the attempt to cross over.

How long emplacing the spells took, he wasn’t sure, but he had to make sure everything was perfect. With what he was about to attempt, there could be no error. So he checked, and rechecked, and re-rechecked the configuration of the spells until completely satisfied that they were as they should be. Then he checked them one more time.

“We’re almost ready,” he announced. The giddiness of Jira, and Jiron’s worry, were almost tangible in the state he was in.

Are you ready?
he sent to the creature before him.

Waiting. Yes. Ready. Now?

Almost. Need more magic.

More. Yes. Much, much more.

He opened his eyes and glanced across to where Jiron sat. “Jiron, Jira, all is in readiness. I am about to tap Disneyland’s magical focal point. After I do, I will activate the spells.”

“And we’ll be home?” asked Jira.

If I did everything correct
, he thought. But what he said was, “Yes. We’ll be home. Now, give me absolute silence.”

“Yes, uncle.”

Closing his eyes again to better focus his concentration, James reached with magic toward the focal point. He did not immediately connect with it. Instead, he took a moment to examine it. There was still time to abort, the spells had not become fully activated as yet, and he wanted to ensure tapping the focal point would be safe.

In his mind’s eye, the visual representation of the focal point was akin to the sun. Bright, with flashes of incredible intensity, he grew leery of connecting with it. But what choice had he? Aside from the Star and Fire, it was the single, most concentrated fount of magic he had ever encountered.

Taking a few more minutes to grow familiar with it, he came to realize that there was indeed an outflow of the magic. A single, intensely concentrated stream drew magic from the focal point and sent it off to the southeast. So minuscule in size was the stream that James almost hadn’t noticed it.

He knew there had to have been an outflow of magic from the focal point! Such constant accumulation without relief would assuredly have resulted in a catastrophic release of one form or another. And this outflow fit his needs perfectly. It was confined, steady, and most importantly, strong. All he had to do was tap into it to power his spells. Piece of cake!

I am ready.
In his mind’s eye, he could almost see the earth spirit nod for him to begin. First he made a cursory check of his spells one final time. Upon finding them satisfactory, he created a conduit that would bridge the gap between his spells and the focal point’s outflow. Then he connected the conduit to his spells. Not a physical connection to be sure, but one which would allow his spells to feed from the outflow.

Once his spells were securely connected to the conduit, he brought its other end to the concentrated stream of magic flowing from the focal point. In one swift motion, he interposed his conduit within the stream of magic and…

Wham!

…a backlash of power exploded, knocking him backward. Jiron and Jira were knocked across the floor and the
Vyrilyzk
disintegrated.

“Get back in position!” he yelled to Jiron and his daughter. Magic fluxed around him as he moved to return to his previous position. Before he could reach it, he was hit by a pulse that shattered every crystal in the park. Knocked back another step, his mind went reeling as he collapsed to the floor.

“James!” Rushing to his side, Jiron slapped him across the face to bring him back around. When Jira came to help, he shouted, “Get back in position!”

Without so much as an answer, she raced back and sat where she had been before. The earth spirit was gone.

“
The shield’s down!”

Mr. Barnes turned to find Cinderella’s Castle quite visible. “Is it gone, or merely invisible again?”

An agent rushed forward to check. When he passed the point where the shield had been, Mr. Barnes picked up his radio. “The shield’s down out here. Can you gain access to the upper level?”

A moment of silence then, “Yes, sir. The way is clear.”

“Then get up there and take them out before they get it working again.”

“Yes, sir.”

Though he didn’t know why the shield was down, Mr. Barnes was more than willing to take advantage of the situation while he could.

“James!”