The Baldari (Book 3) (30 page)

“Are you certain this is a good idea?” Jeen asked as Rigo prepared to trigger a
Bypass
. 

They were back at the cave where Daria had created the unusual
Bypass
some days before.  Rigo had brought the rod Daria had found back here, placing it in the back of the cave near where it must have been when she had triggered her own
Doorway
magic.  Daim had already expressed his disapproval of Rigo’s plan, indicating the rod had shown itself to be dangerous.  Rigo argued that the single rod hadn’t even reacted in a dangerous way, and hadn’t triggered any destructive magic when Daria had stood next to it.

Jeen had come as had Mitty and Suline.  Mitty was unhappy about Rigo’s plan, but had no visions by which she could raise an objection, and she understood how obsessed he was by the drawing that Jeen had brought to Sedfair.  Jeen felt she had no choice but to be on hand, both in case something went wrong, and because she felt she was the one who had triggered many of the events surrounding the strange rod.  Suline had come at Rigo’s request, in case a Caster was required instead of a wizard to trigger the strange
Doorway
. 

“How do you plan on doing this?” Jeen asked, as they all stood in the cave, a short distance from the entrance.

“Torusk said the boxes were over there,” Rigo said, pointing, “and that Daria was about here.  I suggest everyone else go outside as a precaution.  I’ll stand as close to the entrance as possible, and see what happens.”

“Rigo, are you certain this is important?” Mitty asked uncertainly.

“I’ve got to know,” he replied.  “It’ll be okay.  The other rod is far from here.”

“Suline and I will use magic to pull you out of there if anything goes wrong,” Jeen reminded him.  They had also tied a rope around him so they could manually extract him if needed.

Rigo nodded, and watched as they filed out into the sunlight.  Once he was alone, he took a cautious breath.  He was more nervous about this than he’d let on.  Visions of Ash’urn’s ravaged face were in the back of his mind as he focused on the small hillside just behind the Orphanage.  That had been where Daria had been attempting to create the
Doorway
, and he wanted the same beginning and end points.  It might not matter, but the closer he could duplicate what she had done, the more likely he would be successful.

Heart hammering in his chest, he called upon his magic.  Not certain whether his efforts would be greeted with a flash of burning fire, he was surprised to see the arch form a short distance in front of him.  Almost immediately he knew that something unusual had happened.  The edge of the arch was oddly colored, and the area under the arch was cloudy as if it was filled with a mist.  At the moment he could see nothing but the pale, gray-white mist, but that wasn’t how any
Bypass
he’d ever seen looked.  It was also very different than the
Ghost Doorway
that Suline could create. 

It took him a moment to realize he was being called from outside.

“Rigo,” Jeen hollered.  “What happened?  I could sense you drew magic.  Are you okay?”

Rigo forced his attention away from the apparition in front of him and walked toward the entrance.  He stepped out into the sunlight so they could see him.  “I think it worked,” he said simply.

The others came forward anxiously, and followed him back into the cave.  Jeen gasped a little as she saw the strange
Doorway
.  Suline looked at it carefully, sensing that it was very different from her own.

“Have you seen anything in the mists?” Suline asked.

“Nothing,” Rigo admitted.  The disappointment was clear in his voice.

“Give it time,” Mitty said encouragingly.  “It might take a while before anything gets near the other end.”

They waited more than a glass, their eyes straining to make out something, anything, in the pale light under the arch.

“What do you think?” Jeen said finally, reluctant to question the usefulness of their waiting.

“I think we need to make camp,” Rigo said.  “I don’t want to risk closing it just yet.  It might not work a second time.  I’ll give it until tomorrow at least.”

They finally agreed to camp for the night.  Jeen and Suline went for supplies, while Rigo and Mitty sat close together watching the strange arch, hoping to see something like Daria had witnessed.  They were having their evening meal when Mitty hissed and pointed.

“There,” she said, pointing off to a corner of the arch.

The others looked up immediately, but it took several moments for his eyes to distinguish a slight change of darkness where Mitty had pointed.  The longer he looked, he was certain she was right.  Something was moving in the background.  Jeen and Suline had seen it as well, and they all watched transfixed, their meal forgotten, and the darkened patch took shape, and gradually came closer. 

By now it was readily apparent that the figure was humanoid, although no details could yet be made out.  It appeared that it was searching, and seeking something.  Rigo couldn’t help but wonder if the
Bypass
itself was somehow drawing the individual.  That would be odd, since a
Bypass
was normally invisible from the far end.  But then, this was an unusual
Bypass
.  He had to keep in mind that whatever, whoever, was on the far side, didn’t have to be Koess.

They watched in awe as the figure moved as if drawn.  Before long features started to show, and Rigo felt a chill.  Great Risos!  It did look a lot like he remembered Koess.

“Rigo?” Mitty asked softly.  “Is it him?”

Neither Mitty nor Suline had ever seen Koess.  Mitty had seen the drawing, so would be able to see a certain resemblance.  Jeen, of course, would recall him from the days at the Outpost.

“It certainly looks like him,” Rigo said softly.  He knew that his voice couldn’t be heard on the far side of the
Bypass
, but he couldn’t help but speak softly. 

Rigo was at a loss of how to proceed.  The apparition seemed to be studying the far side as if seeking the exit point of the
Bypass
.  Once again, Rigo wondered what could be sensed on the far side, and where it was.  He doubted it was anywhere near the hillside overlooking the Orphanage.  The image reached out, its hands passing off to one side of the opening.  Twice he watched as Koess, Rigo was now certain it was him, reached out and walked carefully toward them.  Both times the figure passed out of view, as if he had missed the exit point.  Both times Rigo expected the figure to simply disappear.  After the second miss, he shouted out encouragement, but it seemed he couldn’t be heard.  He feared the opportunity was past, but after long moments of nothing, the figure worked its way back into view.  This time the figure moved more carefully, shuffling forward slowly, reaching out ahead of itself as it moved.  Rigo gasped as it seemed to come straight for the arch.

Suddenly, even though they should have expected it, they were surprised when a disheveled, confused, and surprisingly healthy looking young man stepped out of the
Bypass
and into the cave where they waited.  Rigo was stunned.  He had never heard of anyone being able to come back through a
Bypass
other than the special one that Suline created.  But to be able to locate one created by someone else and come through it was unexpected, although he admitted that was what he had been hoping might happen.

Rigo was shocked.  Koess could not have aged a day.  It had been far more than a decade since he had disappeared, and yet here he was, looking almost exactly like the day he disappeared.  Even his clothes appeared the same.

The cave was clearly confusing Koess.  He was looking around trying to figure out where he was.  It was unfamiliar.  He wasn’t where he had been the day he’d become trapped in the beyond, yet it clearly wasn’t the same as he’d been for so long.  Part of his mind assumed it was a new place he’d hadn’t seen in his prison.  His eyes found the foursome.  None of the women were familiar to him, and his eyes passed over them after the briefest of glances.  They came to rest on the man. 

“Rigo?” he asked, recognizing the powerful leader of the expedition into the Ruins.  “How did you get here?”  The words came slowly as if he hadn’t spoken for a long time and the process was foreign to him.

“Koess,” Rigo replied, his own voice hoarse from guilt and uncertainty.  “You’re free now.  You are finally back from wherever you went.”

Koess looked at him uncertainly, and then around the cave.  “This isn’t the great chasm,” he finally managed to force out.  Then his eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed at their feet.

Word that Koess, who was known to have been lost through a corrupted
Bypass
many years ago, was now in the Outpost infirmary, spread nearly as fast as had word of Ash’urn’s horrible incident with the magical rods.  Many of the residents of the Outpost had known Koess personally, and a number had been close friends with the young wizard.  Disbelief and wonder, in equal measure, were openly displayed by those who sought out Rigo to learn more about the recovery of the lost wizard.

“I don’t know how he can be alive and as young as he was when he disappeared,” Rigo said to the small group that had cornered him on his way back to the infirmary.  This was the fourth group he’d had to stop and talk with.

“Are you certain it’s him?” asked one of his questioners.

“It’s Koess all right,” Rigo responded positively. 

He was certain that the young man was indeed the Koess who had traveled with him through the Ruins on the ill-fated initial venture in search of answers to the Hoplani.  He knew that Daim wasn’t as sure.  Of course Daim, at least this Daim, hadn’t existed at that time, and had never met Koess.  Daim was suspicious of the timing and impossibility of Koess suddenly reappearing.  He was concerned it was some trick designed to plant someone inside their circle.  Rigo was positive that wasn’t the case.  It was too much to believe the enemy could have not only the capability, but the knowledge to accomplish such a task.  Even so, Daim had demanded that Koess be banded with the Outpost’s version of the bracelets that would block any access to magic for the time being.

When Koess collapsed, he and his small group had carried him outside the small cave, where Jeen had already opened a
Bypass
back to the Outpost.  They took him directly to the infirmary.  He was starting to wake when Daim arrived, and he had ordered the young man held unconscious, something one of the medical techs could accomplish effortlessly, until they were more certain what they were dealing with. 

A complete physical was performed.  He was healthy, and apparently not a day older than the day he had disappeared.  Several former friends identified him, including one who was able to describe a birthmark that few knew about.  The mark was found where it was supposed to be.  Rigo could see no way an enemy could know such details, nor why they would engineer such a complex deceit.  Rigo was now on his way back because they were going to allow the patient to awaken, and he intended to be there.  Koess’ former girlfriend was there as well.  There were questions she could ask that none but the two of them would know the answers to.

Daim was already there, as was Nycoh.  Nycoh and Shara had been taking turns watching Ash’urn, who was also being held sedated as he mended.  Nycoh had informed Rigo earlier that he was doing better than expected, and was out of immediate danger.  Next to Daim stood a woman who Rigo knew only casually.  Kendil was nearly Rigo’s age, and had once been the girlfriend of Koess.

“Wake him up,” Daim ordered, once Rigo was in the room.  “Let’s see what he can tell us.”

The blanket of soft light rippled across the form, and only a couple of moments passed before the eyes fluttered and slowly opened.  The eyes fell first upon Daim, and showed confusion and uncertainty from a lack of recognition.  They shifted to Nycoh, and clearly didn’t make the connection to the young girl who had been a prodigy in those days.  Then they found Rigo, and the tenseness slipped away somewhat.

“Rigo,” he said in the soft hoarse voice that he’d used in the cave.  Rigo thought he could hear the old Koess buried in the voice, but he couldn’t be sure. 

“I thought I’d been dreaming.”

Then he laughed softly to himself.  “Of course, one never sleeps nor dreams in that place.” 

A tear rolled down one cheek.  His eyes scanned the room, passing over the room. He did not see Kendil, who at Daim’s insistence, was standing quietly behind him out of sight while she formed her first impressions. 

“Where am I?” he asked finally.

“The Outpost infirmary,” Rigo said, causing the young wizard to relax further.

Rigo offered Koess a drink, and at first he raised a hand to push it off, then suddenly decided otherwise. 

“I’m thirsty,” he said as if surprised.  “One doesn’t get thirsty or hungry in that place.”

He accepted the water skin and drank deeply.  As he handed the skin back he noticed the bracelets on his arms and looked at them curiously.

“What place is that?” Rigo asked.

Koess shook his head.  “The Void, I called it.  I don’t know what or where it really is.  Just that it is a prison.  There is no way anyone inside can find their way out.”

“Magic doesn’t work?” Daim asked.

Koess fixed Daim with a look for a moment as if still trying to determine who he might be.

“Yes and no,” Koess replied.  “I could create
Brightfire
, or any other magic I knew, but it had no effect on anything.  Nothing I did would change anything.  I could trigger a
Bypass
, and the arch would form, but walk into it and nothing happened.”

“How do you explain that you appear not to have aged?” Rigo asked.

Koess raised his hands and turned them over staring at them.  “I don’t know.  I sensed I wasn’t aging, but I could sense that time was passing.  Of course, I had no mirror to verify what I felt.”

He looked at Rigo who was obviously older than he had been when they had traveled together.

“How long has it been?”

Rigo told him.

“It seemed to be far longer.  I would have guessed twice that long at least.”

“You said a moment ago that you didn’t get thirsty or hungry in this Void of yours.  How did you stay alive?”

“I don’t know.  Something provided the energy required, or suspended the need.  I cannot say.  But it doesn’t last forever.  One eventually dies in there.”

“What makes you say that?” Nycoh asked.

Koess looked at her, as if the sound of her voice had tickled a memory.

“Do I know you” he asked.

“Nycoh,” she replied.

For a moment Koess looked shocked, then he seemed to reconsider how long he’d been in the Void.  “Of course,” he said.  “I can see it now.  I wouldn’t have guessed.”  Then he responded to her question.  “The others who were there,” he said finally.  “They had been there far longer than I.”

“There are more people trapped in there?” Daim asked, caught off-guard by Koess’s statement.

“Their memories are there,” Koess said.  “Their bodies have long passed and diffused into the crystal that forms the walls.  They were wizards like us.  Many from a long time ago.”

“We’ll want to know about that,” Daim said, but first, there is someone here who wants to speak with you.”

Koess looked at Daim expectantly, then half turned as he detected movement behind him.  Kendil stepped into view.  There was no doubt that Koess recognized her.  His eyes widened, and a deep sadness was present in his eyes.

“Hi, Koess,” she said uncertainly.

“You look wonderful,” he managed to say.

“Older,” she said.

“Yes, somewhat.  It is to be expected.  Everyone but me has continued on.  How are you?”

They talked for a long time.  Daim pulled Rigo and Nycoh out of the room so they could speak privately. 

“If she verifies it’s him, I want you to find out everything you can about his experiences in that place,” Daim said to Rigo.  “I am starting to believe this is really the person you claim.”

“It’s Koess,” Nycoh said with certainty. 

Some time later Kendil stepped out into the hall.

“There is no doubt it’s him,” she said.  “There are things we shared that no one else would know.  What are you going to do with him?”

“We’ll try and see what he might know that we might be able to use.  Once we are certain of him, he’ll be free to rejoin the community.”  Daim paused.  “He knows about your situation?”

“I told him I was bonded,” Kendil confirmed.  “I think he expected as much, but I could tell it struck home.”

After Kendil left, Rigo returned to speak with Koess.  Nycoh went back to check on Ash’urn, and Daim left to deal with the many tasks that demanded his attention.

“Why does everyone doubt I’m who I say?” Koess asked when Rigo stepped into the room.

“Your return is a bit of a surprise,” Rigo replied.  “It also comes at a particularly unusual time.  The Three Kingdoms is under attack, and there are those who wonder if you might be tied into that in some way.”

“The Hoplani?  They are still a problem?  You never found a solution to them?  How would I be aiding the Hoplani?”

The questions came quickly, and Rigo raised his hand to forestall anymore.

“Let’s see about getting you out of here.  There is much you will want to know, and there is a lot we still want to know about your entrapment.”

The infirmary had ordered new clothing for Koess, the items he had been wearing being held for investigation, and something that Koess had been in for a very long time.  Once he was dressed, Koess indicated the bands on his arms, expecting them to be removed.

“Later,” Rigo said.  “After we have talked.  Daim, who now is the leader of our group, remains uncertain about you.  Those bands block your access to magic.  He is more comfortable with you not being able to spell at the moment.”

“That’s why I can’t sense my power,” Koess said.  “Where did these come from?”

“That is just part of what I have to tell you,” Rigo said.  “I don’t know about you, but I am hungry.  Perhaps we can start our discussion over something to eat?”

Koess thought and agreed.  “I feel somewhat hungry at that.  It has been something I haven’t thought about for a long time.”

As they headed down the hall toward the exit, they briefly passed Ash’urn’s room.  Rigo stuck his head in and told Nycoh where he was heading.  As they left, Koess asked, “What happened to Ash’urn?”

Rigo briefly explained about the strange rods that had exploded in magic and burned the elder scholar severely when two were brought into proximity.

“Ruins stick,” Koess said nodding.  “They would do that.”

“You know what they are?” Rigo asked surprised.

Koess nodded as if surprised that Rigo didn’t.  “Of course.  They were used as part of the magic that created the Ruins.  Several thousand of them were planted around the midlands and then activated.  Unfortunately, they were more effective than anticipated and the spell ran out of control, but I’d guess the sticks are still in place.  A lot weaker now than they were a long time ago.”

“Who did this?” Rigo asked, uncertain whether to believe what he was hearing.

“The Brryn, of course,” Koess said.

“The Brryn?” Rigo asked, the word difficult to speak.  “What are the Brryn?”

The gifted sorcerers who ruled the known world,” Koess said, surprised that Rigo didn’t know.  “You know, the race with the light lavender hair that controlled the use of magic long ago.”

Rigo paled at Koess’s description of the Brryn.  “We have more to talk about than I thought,” he said.

Koess looked at him oddly, and shrugged.  “They are long gone,” he said.  “You know that.  Their attempt to eliminate the rest of the world’s gifted backfired and wiped them out.”