The Baldari (Book 3) (46 page)

The
Bypass
that Tara opened to begin their journey into the jungles took them close to the farthest village that the team had explored thus far.  It was a half day walk from S’erom’s old village, in the direction he had indicated they needed to go.  S’erom glanced at the deserted village sadly, as if he could remember happier times when he had visited this place before all of this had begun.  Now it was empty.  The few who had still lived here were now located in the oasis, and the chances they might one day return depended on the outcome of this adventure.

The group wasted little time gawking, and soon formed up in a line, two abreast, as they headed to the southwest.  They were traveling light, having breakfasted back in the team oasis.  They would eat lunch on the trail, but would plan on being back at the oasis for dinner.  That meant mostly they had to carry water, and a small amount of emergency supplies. 

Everyone making the trip was armed.  Despite relying on magic as the primary defense, each wizard carried a short sword as backup.  All too frequently magic had failed to meet the needs, and Rigo had insisted that each member of the force be properly equipped.  They had been given several days of lessons with the edged weapons.  While not enough to make them swordsmen, each now knew the basics.  Several, who had shown an interest in the past, were moderately skilled.  Even the Baldari were armed.  The jungle was not a place to travel without a weapon, and while they had been offered quality Kellmore blades, each had preferred the more familiar weapon they had used for years.

Tara, Debi, Nycoh and S’erom led the advance.  S’erom pointed the direction they were to follow, and under his guidance they discovered trails where none were obvious.  Within a half glass the jungle started to become denser, the openness that had characterized the large Ler’ver’ar growing fields and the villages changing into the kind of growth that Debi found familiar from her earlier attempts to travel through this land.

The U’nydyn had proven their worth from the moment they arrived in the jungle.  The beasts seemed to recognize their return to their homeland, and guided by S’erom’s thoughts, moved swiftly through the brush.  Before long the trail narrowed to the point they had to advance single file, but the beasts moved smoothly, finding passage where one would least expect it.  Rather than cut the way through the jungle as Debi’s team had been forced to do in the past, they moved with the jungle, sometimes turning away from their desired direction in order to locate the easiest path forward.

Debi could see how superior the U’nydyn were over normal horses.  The brief attempts they had made with horses during her earlier adventures into this land, had proven disastrous.  The horses were uncomfortable with the foreign environment, and had been prone to being infected with parasites that entered through their hooves.  The U’nydyn appeared to be immune to the parasites.  Many of the small predators that found horses a delightful addition to their diet were either fearful of the U’nydyn, or were smart enough not to annoy the beasts.  It was readily apparent the U’nydyn could fend for themselves here.

Despite the denseness of the undergrowth, they advanced surprisingly swiftly for the first week.  There were no villages in this area, and they could move without fear of encountering Baldari establishments which could reveal their presence to the Brryn.  At the end of each day, they would release the U’nydyn with the command to find food and rest, but to remain close for the following day.  Nycoh had wondered how well this would work at first, but each morning when they made the
Bypass
to return, they found the herd waiting contentedly for them.

The jungle was surprisingly colorful, Nycoh discovered.  There were more birds than she could have ever imagined, most with bright colors and raucous calls.  They flitted among the high branches overhead, sometimes seeming to follow the travelers in the shadows formed by the thick canopies of the tall trees.  Other times they flew away as if fearful of the strange invaders.  Flowers were another colorful feature to the jungle, although S’erom pointed out that many of them were poisonous in one way or another.  Some only if consumed, but others to the touch.  Two varieties he pointed out, were able to attack any human foolish enough to get close.

After a couple of days, the disconcerting habit of the U’nydyn to sniff at the rider’s legs, their sharp teeth showing aggressively, became less frequent.  The beasts were adapting to their non-Baldari riders and their odd smells.  Nycoh and the other wizards started to think of them as horses of a sort, although this vision was often disturbed when they returned to the jungle and found the beasts in the morning.  Many of the U’nydyn had muzzles that were liberally coated with traces of blood, which was a reminder these weren’t grass eaters.  Their preferred repast was something quite different.

Only once did they encounter anything in the jungle that was a threat to them and the U’nydyn.  Once during a break for lunch, several of the U’nydyn had begun their strange whining barks.  They wanted to run, but were held against their natural inclination by the power of S’erom’s mental command.  Nycoh saw the reason for the beasts’ concern, as a very large predator came out of the jungle and made a run for one of the frozen U’nydyn.  Here was something large and fierce enough that it could consider the dangerous U’nydyn a meal.  Without conscious thought, Nycoh had unleashed a sharp beam of
Brightfire
, and brought the attacking creature down.  There had only been the one, and once it was dead, the U’nydyn had no trouble walking up to the carcass and tearing off large chunks of the still smoking flesh.

“
Are there many of those things
?” Nycoh inquired mentally.  She had been working with S’erom as they traveled and was becoming far more capable with the mental linking.  She could now direct her thoughts to the individual she intended to communicate with, and unless someone else was very close by, they wouldn’t be able to pick them up.  This was important, S’erom had explained.  Should they encounter another tribe, or the Brryn, she didn’t want to be broadcasting in every direction in a manner that allowed her to be overheard.  Because the mental communication took her effort to initiate, she didn’t broadcast a background “noise” like many Baldari when she wasn’t attempting to communicate.

“
They hunt alone
,” he told her,
“but there are many to be found.  Normally we avoid them, but with your magic, we can move without fear.
”

There were an untold number of rivers that crossed their path or barred their way.  Fortunately, many were small and could be ridden across.  Others were quite formidable, but with the simple opening of a
Bypass
could be forded effortlessly.  While most of the rivers flowed nearly east or west, several flowed south, and could have been used to take them in the desired direction.  That would have required a complete readjustment of their travel arrangements, and as they discovered, the rivers tended to be somewhat serpentine, and could change direction unexpectedly.  Overall, they felt they made better time traveling on the U’nydyn.

The first village they encountered was small, and they were warned as it was near by the cultivated fields of Ler’ver’ar they could see and smell in the distance.  While the others waited, S’erom and Nycoh proceeded on foot, and once they had located the village, the expedition was able to easily shift their direction so as to pass out of view.  By evening they were far from the village, and could tell they had passed unseen.

Three days later they encountered a much larger settlement.  The jungle had been thinning all morning, and S‘erom had indicated that was a good indicator a village might be nearby.  This area was said to be heavily populated, and he recalled from his travels many years before with his father, that multiple tribes could be found somewhere in the area.  The fields of Ler’ver’ar they encountered were far more extensive than any seen as yet, and from the small rise that gave a view ahead, they could see a village that was many times the size of the one where S’erom had been raised.  Despite years of losses, the number of Baldari that lived here in the south was still enormous.

To avoid detection, they backtracked several glass, and adjusted their path due west.  Twice they had to rely on their magic and make themselves invisible, while S’erom and his five friends carefully led their U’nydyn through the jungle.  If any of the local villagers saw anything, it would have looked like a small herd of the beasts, being led by a few Baldari.  That was no longer a strange sight, as some of the Baldari had taken to using the beasts for more than war. 

Nycoh asked if they could travel at night, but S’erom made it clear that not even a Baldari could move through unknown parts of the jungle in the dark.  One of the locals might have been able to navigate safely, but the area was unknown to all members of the expedition.  They would have to find the fringes of the settlement, and move quietly and unobtrusively as possible.  Several tense days were required before they were able to leave the cluster of villages behind.  Even then S’erom maintained their heading for a full day more, before turning to the south so they could regain the direction they had been heading. 

Ten days after first setting out, the jungle once again started to thin, but this time when they were able to see past the heavy canopy which had kept them blocked from the sun for days, they realized they had reached the foothills of the first of the mountain ranges.  The slopes were gradual, and would present no problems to their advance.  In the distance they could see the peaks.  Without magic, crossing the mountains would have been more time consuming than moving through the jungle.  Even though these mountains were rounded and not so high, there were many false starts that would be encountered following the valleys that led through them to the far side.  All of that was of no importance.  Now that they could see ahead, the same technique Debi had used before to cross the Great Mountains that separated the Ruins from the jungle was used.  The team advanced swiftly as
Bypass
portals carried them from one large meadow to another.  Only the extent of the mountain range was a factor, but in just over two days they had crossed over to the far side.  At the base of the hill where they rested, the jungle resumed mastery of the land, and in the far distance a faint bluish haze suggested the second range.  That was the one they sought.  It was too bad it was so far they couldn’t resolve detail that would allow this next section of jungle to be bypassed.  Overall they had been fortunate.  They had come this far without being discovered, and without major mishap. 

“Let’s go,” Debi ordered the next morning as they arrived back at the site of the slope they had ended the previous day’s travel on.

The two wizards Daim had assigned to monitor the team’s progress and who had returned with them to the daily starting point wished them luck, and made a
Bypass
back to the Three Kingdoms as usual.  This was the same approach Rigo had used in crossing the Ruins, and would assure that in the worst scenario, the Outpost would have people who knew where the team had begun each day.  There would be no need to relearn the days of hard travel it had taken to arrive here.

The team rode their U’nydyn down the hill into the first shadows created by the sudden return of the tall trees where the jungle reasserted its authority.  Soon the blue sky could only be seen in glimpses.  While the team hated the loss of the bright sun they had enjoyed crossing the mountains, the U’nydyn seemed to relish the return to the darker jungle where they normally lived.  They moved quickly under the tall trees and were eager to advance as if they sensed something intriguing ahead.

Debi would have liked to do as several members of the expedition had suggested, and take a day of rest before moving on.  Unfortunately, they didn’t know how much time they had left.  The Brryn had been surprisingly quiet.  There had been no attacks since the journey had begun.  During the meeting at the Outpost Nycoh had attended two days ago, Mitty had made it clear that two of the other Brryn were now communicating with the original woman.  Mitty sensed that the three were planning something.  With the remaining Brryn starting to wake up, the time available for the Outpost to act was growing short.

Burke looked around the large area into which he had been transported.  He was aware immediately that he had never been here before.  He also knew that his reasons for being here were not good ones.  He was here to kill and destroy.  He didn’t want to, and he fought a losing battle inside against himself.  He raged as a result.  That really didn’t matter, however.  He was here to do as he must, and he would complete the task as assigned, regardless of how wrong it felt to him.  Part of him wondered why that was so.  He used to have much more control over his actions.  But for some time now, he couldn’t concentrate on how long he hadn’t been the one who decided what he would do.  It was her.  She decided.  He wasn’t sure how he knew it was a woman, but he did.

He scanned the large room beyond and confirmed to himself he had never been here before.  He’d done that already, hadn’t he?  Had he even known of it?  He honestly wasn’t certain.  He might have, but it wasn’t important.  Someone had known, and that was all that mattered.  At least they had known about the artifact in the Ruins that had carried them here.  His head was stuffy.  Some things he could think about easily, others he could only sense through a fog and they appeared almost unreal, although he knew that wasn’t the case. 

His eyes crossed back and forth a third time, checking out the frontal area, but mostly focused on the larger room in the distance.  Burke could feel he wasn’t controlling what he was looking at.  Somehow she was directing his actions, and she was noting what he – and therefore – she was seeing.  Whatever was being looked for must have been detected, for he suddenly felt energized, and he knew it was time to put their attack into action.

That’s the way it had been at Pagner.  The attack on Kellmore’s capital was something he knew had been wrong, but he’d known at the time it was something he must do.  He didn’t know exactly why.  He didn’t understand how she was able to cause him to take action.  But once the urging was placed into his mind, he suddenly became energized and able to think and move quickly, so long as the tasks he pursued were related to the goal he’d been given.  The long blank days he could barely recall were suddenly forgotten.

Most days he existed in a semiconscious state along with the others who she controlled.  There were a lot of them.  He didn’t know where they were kept.  They returned to a known location in the jungle, and after that a
Bypass
opened and they stepped through to another place he didn’t recognize.  It was in a large room, devoid of identifying markings, not that it mattered.  He’d been alert enough the first time he’d been brought there to realize he was blocked from making a
Bypass
to the place, even had he known where it was.  Recently another wizard and a couple of Casters had joined the group.  The wizard had been important.  He had known magic that was shared with Burke and the other captive wizards.  Now he could create his own protective shields.  He’d survived in the past because the woman had considered him valuable and had created a barrier that shielded him from attack.  Now he could do the same for himself.  He could also produce the deadly
Greenfire
.  The part of his mind that was still his was impressed with the new powers, but at the same time he sensed that she considered them barely adequate.

This was the first time they had been sent off since the Caster named Shym had been killed.  They’d all known Shym was one of her favorites.  Shym had been among the first she had taken, and one of the most powerful.  But something had happened to her, and after Pagner she simply didn’t return.  Burke knew she hadn’t been killed in the battle, since he’d seen her at the gathering place before they were returned to the holding area.  He knew he should be glad, but somehow he could only focus on what might have happened to her.

Eight of the captive wizards had come with him today.  He had known all but one of them before.  They had followed him then, and they would follow him again today.  He was in charge, and suddenly he was clear about what must be done.  There were no Baldari with them today.  There was nothing for the Baldari to do here.  The gifted who he could see in the larger room would have easily swept away any Baldari that attacked them.  It would be up to Burke and his handful of followers to deal with them before they could realize they were in danger. 

Burke stared.  They were scholars and intent on whatever they were studying.  As yet he could see that none of those sitting inside the semi-transparent modules had noticed them.  Even the few moving around were intent on their private tasks, and none had spared a glance back at the lobby.  They had become dulled to any danger after many days of quiet study here.  That would change in a few moments.

Burke signaled the two wizards who had brought the heavy crystal devices to place them in the corner.  Burke was aware the devices were designed to make up for the deficiency in his and his fellow wizard’s abilities.  She could have acted without such troublesome aids, but their magic was so weak they would be unable to accomplish the task without the devices.  For some reason she couldn’t come to deal with this on her own.  The creation of the two devices had taken time, and had delayed this day.  Burke didn’t understand who had made them, sensing it wasn’t the woman.  They were made of power crystal, and contained a large store of magical energy waiting to be released.

Burke pointed out targets to each of the others, and on his signal, eight beams of
Brightfire
lashed out eliminating over half of the scholars in the large room.  The
Brightfire
passed through the walls of the reading chambers effortlessly, burning large holes in the sides before consuming the unsuspecting academics inside.  In most cases the
Brightfire
also destroyed the functionality of the reading units.  That really didn’t matter.  None of them would be used after today anyway.

Brightfire
was difficult to ignore.  Not only was it intensely bright, but the damage it caused was seldom silent.  The death of eight of the scholars caught the attention of the others in the room.  Two wizards who had been walking across the room stopped and stared at the newcomers to the Repository.  They were killed where they had stopped.  Three more of the scholars were too slow to raise their personal shields for protection, and died as well.  A fourth scholar, a Caster, had left his staff outside the reader, and was unable to reach it before a targeted beam of
Brightfire
ended his attempt. 

Only Relp remained alive.  He had been taking a break, walking through the archives so he could think about what he had just finished reading.  He was hidden from view of the attackers by several rows of shelves, and had seen the bright flashes of magic.  A quick look revealed what was happening, and he wasted no time making a
Bypass
that would take him away from here and back to the Outpost.  He escaped without being seen, not that it mattered to Burke and the other attacking wizards.  They weren’t really here to kill the scholars.  They simply didn’t want them interfering with what needed to be done next.

Burke checked quickly around the large room with its many shelves of texts.  Clearly none of the scholars had survived.  While many of the readers were damaged by the attacks, he noted that the shelves and their contents were not harmed by the beams of
Brightfire
.  Curious, he lashed out with a powerful blast of
Greenfire
at one of the shelves.  Like his own protective shield, the
Greenfire
was unable to penetrate and damage the contents. 

He signaled the others to bring the two crystal devices they had left in the lobby.  It took less than a quarter glass to position them properly, and then placing his hand on the place provided, he armed the first.  Satisfied, he walked over and did the same with the second one.  Either one should be sufficient to accomplish the task, but this way they would be certain.  The blast would be something to see.  Burke was aware that she would be able to monitor the beginning of the explosion through the devices.

Their task complete, Burke made the
Bypass
back to the Gathering place.  He knew another
Bypass
would be waiting to take them back to the other wizards in the holding area.  As they stepped through the arch, the Repository was quiet and empty.  Only the glow from the two strange devices remained.

Kytra was fully aware when her
helot
had left the Repository.  Through the crystals, she could sense the large structure, now silent.  There was no reason to delay, and with a brief flash of delight, she triggered the two devices.  As they erupted with a violent release of magic, her view of the Repository was lost.  That was enough to tell her she had been successful.

The protective barrier and illusion that surrounded the island that hid the Repository for many thousands of years could withstand all but the most powerful magic known in the long forgotten times.  The protection was designed to protect against attack from the outside.  The protection from the inside was not nearly as great, and the two devices were more than powerful enough to overcome the magic used in the creation of the place.

The display from the village surrounding the lake was quite striking and frightening.  A swirling ball of multi-colored fire erupted from the center of the lake where the illusion hid the Repository.  The blast was bright enough that any individuals who were looking in that direction at the time of detonation were permanently blinded by the swirling light.  Those unfortunate individuals didn’t have long to suffer or stress over their loss of vision, as having consumed everything on the island, leaving behind a bubbling mass of barren rock, the energies lashed out in all directions, consuming the village that had surrounded the lake for centuries.  None of those within a considerable distance around the lake survived. 

Had anyone been present to look over the waters of the lake a short time later after the destructive magic had been spent, they would have seen the small rocky island in the middle of the lake.  For the first time in many centuries the island could be seen.  It was bare and empty, and it was unlikely that anything would grow upon it ever again.  Of the Repository, there was not the slightest sign.  It might never have existed.

Relp arrived at the Outpost and immediately sought an audience with Daim.  He didn’t know of the destruction of the Repository, never having seen the devices the attackers had brought, and having left before they had been triggered.

“You are certain it was Burke?” Daim asked.  He had already sent for Rigo and Ash’urn, as well as ordered a large number of combat wizards. 

“I’ve know Burke for many years,” Relp replied.  “There was no doubt it was him.”

“They were killing the others on your team?” Daim asked.

“I believe they were already dead,” Relp confirmed.  “I was spared only because they didn’t see me.”

“Who was at the Repository when the attack started?” Daim asked.  He knew that a joint effort by the Guild and Outpost had been underway to decode the symbols from the device that Jeen’s team in Roin had unearthed.  It was sheer luck that Ash’urn hadn’t been there.  He had been spending a great deal of his time at the Repository, but had gone with Jeen to Roin earlier in the day and had only just returned.

“Fen, Professor Meyter,” Relp said.  He thought for a minute, and then listed a number of names.  Daim knew all of them.  Some of their most capable researchers.

Rigo and Ash’urn arrived together.  Daim quickly explained the situation. 

Ash’urn paled when he heard Fen’s name.  He cursed.  “We were careless,” he said.  “We should have maintained a guard at the entrance.”

Ash’urn knew why they hadn’t.  They wanted to minimize the number of people who were aware of the place for security reasons.  It had also been believed, perhaps hoped, that the Brryn were unaware of the facility.  They had also thought with the ability to create protective shields, any who were attacked would be able to escape should an attack materialize.  Ash’urn was certain his lost friends had been too engrossed in their studies to be able to react in time.

“There’s a combat team waiting below,” Daim said to Rigo.  “Go and see what you can find out.  If Relp is right, it will be too late to save those who had been there, but we need to know what is happening.”

Thin lipped, Rigo nodded and turned to go.  He knew that in addition to the people, all pieces of the gold base for the device Jeen’s team had found were at the Repository, and couldn’t help wondering if that was what had triggered the attack.  If so, it meant the device was important.

“I’m coming along,” Ash’urn said in a tone that indicated he wouldn’t be denied.

Rigo nodded silently, and together they hurried out to find the combat team that would go with them.

The
Waygate
in the Ruins was a smoking wreck.  No longer did it float above the floor of the desert, but now it lay blackened and broken on the sands.

“What now?” Ash’urn asked.  The
Waygate
had been the only way to get into the Repository.  They had tried other means in the past, but nothing worked.  Now that the Brryn had destroyed the ancient artifact, they might never be able to enter the place again.

Rigo looked at the burned remains of the artifact that had survived countless centuries in the Ruins, only to be destroyed within a year of being reactivated.  The sands around where it had floated were fused and glassy and still warm from the magic that had been used here.