The Baldari (Book 3) (6 page)

“I don’t think it is based in magic,” Rigo explained.  “Ash’urn suggests it is an inherent ability that the Baldari might have.  Their mounts as well, to be controllable by it.”

“It would certainly explain how they can move so seamlessly as a single force,” Tarnar said, as he considered the possibilities.

“It might explain even more,” Rigo added.  “If they communicate in such a manner, it might be possible that while the Baldari control the beasts they ride by the power of their minds, they might be under the control of even more powerful minds in a similar manner.  That might explain the abandon with which they go into battle.  They may have no control over their fate, and whoever, or whatever, controls them, might be willing to sacrifice any number to accomplish whatever objectives are being sought.”

Rigo was thinking of the woman who Mitty frequently observed as he said this.  He had no reason to support the belief, but Mitty had been persuasive and she believed the woman was a force that represented great danger.  The connection between viewing the woman and the attacks was also instructive.

“Mitty’s strange viewing?” Ardra asked.

Rigo nodded.  “We don’t know where she is, or what she wishes, but given what we know of Mitty’s talent, it is certain she exists.

“You believe she is behind the Baldari attacks?” Major Tarnar asked.

“There is nothing to support my belief, but I sense it to be the case.  I also sense there will be many more before she is finished.”

“Why does she remain in this odd place you have described rather than pressing her objectives more directly,” Tarnar asked.

“Mitty sees that she is partially trapped by a kind of magical energy that encompasses most of her body.  The others in the chamber are totally enclosed within the cocoon of energy, except the two who appear dead.  This woman has her head and left arm exposed, which might be why she is active.  There is simply too much we don’t know.”

“We know she is a threat,” Ardra countered.  “Our forces must be on constant alert.  Somehow we must find where she is and take action.”

“That will most likely mean following the Baldari back to where they originate,” Rigo said.  Even as he said it, he sensed it would be a very costly and difficult effort.

Mitty kicked back the covers with a moan and said, Not again!”

“Another dream?” Rigo asked sleepily.

“They’re attacking.  This time in Kellmore once again.”

Rigo knew she meant the Baldari.  “Where are they this time?” he asked.  It had only been a couple of days since the atypical terror attack along Sedfair’s coast that had resulted in a large number of deaths, but no noticeable gain for the fearless warriors.  Rigo, like everyone else, wasn’t sure what to make of that attack. 

“They’re back in Roin.”

That wasn’t entirely accurate.  The last time they hadn’t gotten anywhere near the city.  Roin was the port city along Kellmore’s southern coast they had attempted to attack when Nycoh had destroyed the entire force with her display of raw power out in the desert.  Rigo wondered what in the city attracted the invaders.  He itched to go and help, but he knew if he was needed someone would have already been dispatched to find him.  It was unlikely that would happen.  He was in Sedfair, all the way across the Ruins.  Teams had been put in place both to watch for a return of the Baldari riders, and to respond to them.  Unless something had gone very wrong, the invading force would have been tracked, and met with a large force of combat qualified wizards when they reached their destination.  Rigo’s presence wasn’t required, and sending someone all the way to Sedfair just to inform him wasn’t likely.  He’d learn in the morning with everyone else when the daily courier brought the news to Queen Rosul.

“Have the Three Kingdoms responded?” Rigo asked as he forced himself awake.  They had gone to bed late, and then had engaged in other more personal activities for some time, finally drifting off only a few glass earlier.

Mitty nodded, her own eyes open now, the vision fading as she came fully awake.  Sometimes it lingered, and Daim had suggested that with practice she would be able to hold the visions while fully awake.  Mitty wasn’t sure she wanted that ability.  What she saw was often far too distressful, but Daim had suggested the ability might prove useful, and had encouraged her to pursue it.  This time it wasn’t happening, and the scene from the far off city lost its sharpness and color, then faded away completely.

Mitty’s dreams had proven accurate, but an unreliable indicator to the attacks.  If she had a dream, one could be certain that the visions were real, but she didn’t always have visions when an attack was underway.  In other ways her abilities were becoming more defined.  She had regained the visions of the strange woman and her companions, and Mitty said she felt she could almost activate that scene willingly.  She hadn’t managed it, but claimed she felt it was just barely out of her reach.  She’d tried to trigger her
Farvision
with friends and locations she knew intimately, and had had minor successes.  It was a remarkable ability, but one which Mitty felt offered too much opportunity for invasion of someone’s privacy.  Rigo privately agreed with Daim, that if Mitty could develop the skill, they might be able to learn valuable information about the unknown woman and her sleeping associates.

“Did you see anything that might explain what they are seeking in Roin?” Rigo asked, as he drew Mitty close.

“It appeared they were simply attacking with the intent to destroy and elicit fear, much like we were told they did in Safran.  There was no sense they were striving to reach some chosen location, and I witnessed the destruction of the power crystal being carried to protect them.  The Outpost’s wizards sought him out and your friend Burke did some kind of melding with others to create a very powerful blast of magic that destroyed the lone Baldari before he could react.”

“Another suicide run,” Rigo mumbled.  “A waste of warriors.  There must be more to it than that.”

“Perhaps our response to the attacks is being tested,” Mitty suggested.  “Also, I sensed that some of the Baldari in this attack were more interested in seeing what was in Roin than pressing the attack.  My vision wanted to jump between individuals who weren’t fighting.”

Mitty was one of those who had accepted the theory that the Baldari warriors were being controlled somehow, much as Ash’urn had suggested the strange mounts they rode appeared to be controlled mentally by the Baldari. 

“What would be the point?” Rigo asked.  “If this is anything like what happened in Safran, none will survive to carry what they have seen back. 

“Perhaps it isn’t necessary,” Mitty suggested.  “What if ‘she’, and Rigo knew exactly who Mitty was referring to, “is able to see what they do?  What if she can jump between minds freely, and can see what each of the warriors sees?”

“You think she can control them at such a distance?  You believe she controls each of them individually?”

“Probably not,” Mitty agreed.  “That would seem far too difficult.  They are probably controlled as a group, but perhaps individuals can be selected and given additional instructions, or used as a means to observe what the force is encountering?  From what I have seen in the visions, she is trapped somehow.  How else would she know what is out there?  While I can’t be certain, no vision has even shown me both the chamber where the woman is trapped, and a Baldari together.  We only think they are linked, but if so, how do they communicate what they have encountered?  How does she choose their targets?”

Rigo realized Mitty had done more thinking on the matter than himself.  He hadn’t been entirely comfortable with Ash’urn’s suggestion that the Baldari were being controlled by the simple force of the unknown woman’s mind.  Hers, or perhaps another they were as yet unaware of.  Mitty, however, felt otherwise.  Rigo felt a chill as he wondered all at once if the woman, who appeared to be aware of Mitty, could somehow reach out and affect his consort.  Suddenly the risks seemed far greater.  If the woman could influence individual Baldari while they were engaged in battle, then who knew the reach of her ability.  He was about to raise the matter with Mitty, but held off.  He would discuss it with Ash’urn first.  No sense worrying Mitty unnecessarily.

*                            *                            *                            *                            *

In far off Roin, Burke watched as the last of the Baldari raiders were being finished off.  The force he had brought to the city was more than sufficient to overwhelm the mounted invaders.  Each wizard was experienced, their fighting ability honed by years of dealing with the Hoplani.  Once the Baldari moved from beneath the protective blanket provided by the power crystal, they had been easily dispatched.  He’d personally made a point of eliminating the carrier of the device, Linking with several wizards who rode with him with that specific purpose in mind.  Burke hadn’t wanted a repeat of the events of Safran, and hadn’t wanted any chance the Baldari might retreat, seeking the protection of the field created by the power crystal.  Several were taken prisoner, but Burke had been told that they would probably die before they could be adequately questioned.  It was as if they gave up, were programmed to simply shut down.

The elimination of the attackers hadn’t been bloodless or without damage to the city, but far fewer had died than had been the case in Sedfair a few days earlier.  His force’s swift reaction, and the advance warning forwarded to the residents of Roin when the likely destination of the Baldari had been decided, had saved many lives.  As he watched his wizards finishing up the cleanup, Burke wondered at the purpose.  The attack made little sense.

The Baldari had arrived suddenly some days ago.  Burke estimated they had appeared close to the same day that the Baldari that had attacked Safran had likely appeared in the Ruins along Sedfair’s southern border.  In this case, the invaders had appeared along the shore of the Great Central River just north of where it passed into the Great Mountains that blocked southern exploration.  This was the same location where the last force into Kellmore appeared to have originated. 

No boats were used, and no mysterious means of getting up the river was employed.  The force rode out of a wide
Bypass
, one of the largest Burke had ever heard of.  The force had appeared suddenly, the raiders seemingly stepping out of the air along a section of beach nearly fifty paces wide.  Burke wished he had been there to see it.  He’d been back at the Outpost, and had been brought word of the force.  While the Baldari were tracked, he’d assembled the force that would engage them once they reached their destination.  They had taken a different route this time.  The new path was longer, and kept them out of sight of other villages, not that it mattered.  Burke’s watchers followed the force every step of the way.  The new route, however, precluded Nycoh from repeating her powerful draw of magic once again.

The question that the Baldari’s use of a
Bypass
to travel to Kellmore had raised, still remained unanswered.  Several individuals, himself included, had suggested that a
Bypass
was the logical means of getting past the mountains when the spot adjacent to the Great River had been discovered after the first attempted attack.  The problem with the idea was that the Baldari showed no sign of using magic, other than the yet unexplained protective barrier.  Also, if they could make a
Bypass
, then why would they choose an exit point so far from their intended target and ride for many days before the attack?  A more judicious location for the
Bypass
would allow for surprise, and a much more effective and rapid attack.

The question remained unanswered, but based on this new information, the subject would be the matter of no little debate when he returned to report to Daim.

Ten days later the Baldari struck in Sedfair yet again.  This time the attack was different.  For one thing, it was a dual attack.  For another, the warning signal that indicated an attack was in progress somehow was not triggered in the second city.  Also unfortunate, Mitty had no visions regarding the attack.  Had she been aware that an attack was in progress and that no one was responding, she would have told Rigo, who would have carried the word to those who mattered, and things might have turned out differently. 

Surtl was the targeted city.  It was located just short of a week’s ride north of the southern border of Sedfair, and a half day’s ride inland from the Wastelands.  The group of invaders was spotted by the patrols well before they reached the city, and per the established procedure were trailed until they approached the target, at which time the force assembled in Nals transitioned by
Doorway
into the fighting zone to deal with the invaders.  When the protective barrier was dropped, the battle between attacking and defending forces began.  This time the Baldari appeared to have planned for just such a moment, and two-thirds of the force formed up and went after the defenders in a very organized manner, while the remaining third made for the glow ball factory on the eastern side of the town. 

The glow balls were a popular product produced by an enterprising group of commercial Casters.  Unlike the more powerful magical lights used at the Guild and castle that were powered directly by magical spells and required capable Casters to maintain them, the glow balls used activated slivers of power crystal that absorbed solar energy by day, and released light at night.  The bits of power crystal used were gathered from the trimming of one of the larger crystals into the focusing shape that was desired for the power staffs.  The commercial Casters had made a business deal with the Guild to acquire these small and otherwise useless bits of crystal.  Given the Baldari interest in the mines that produced the crystal and the fact there was little else of interest in the town of Surtl, the defenders made the connection almost immediately.

The Baldari made their way toward the factory with single-minded determination.  Those who were charged with protecting the smaller force that made the raid on the factory fought with an intensity that was startling.  The torchbearer had gone with the smaller group and was conspicuously difficult to locate, which indicated the Baldari had learned that the defenders were aware of his function and had learned to target him.  That also suggested the Baldari fully intended to make a run after completing their raid.

Unfortunately for the Baldari, the defending Casters were becoming adept at this kind of battle, and the force that had come in defense of Surtl was more than sufficient to handle the invaders.  While the Baldari were able to breach the security at the small factory and break inside, killing a number of those in attendance, they had no chance of escaping.  By the time the small force had gathered up the supply of crystal chips and were preparing to make their exit, the defending Casters were upon them, focusing first on the designated torch bearer.  Once he was eliminated, the hopes of the fleeing Baldari were shattered, and within a very short time, the remaining Baldari had been killed.  None allowed themselves to be taken alive, and little effort was expended to try to take prisoners.  The risks were greater, and experience had shown that the Baldari would die before anything useful could be obtained from them anyway.  The Baldari mounts, deadly in their own right, were killed without thought to protect everyone from the deadly bites.

As the defending Casters made their final search of the town, making certain that none of the invading Baldari force had managed to hide or escape, the senior Caster overseeing the effort was surprised to see a small group of three worried looking Casters appear out of nowhere.  They quickly located the senior Caster as they exited the
Doorway
that had delivered them to Surtl, and rode in her direction 

“It’s over,” Purl said as the three rode over to her.  She recognized the trio, who would command the shift after her team went off duty.

Kala scanned the carnage from the many dead Baldari, as she continued to ride closer.  The few Casters who had been wounded were already being treated by the wizards skilled in healing. 

“This was a feint,” she said pointedly.  “This attack was to draw our attention and forces.  The real attack was elsewhere, and they are already making their way back toward the Wastelands.”

Purl was stunned and it showed on her face.  “A feint?  They used Surtl to distract us from another attack?  Where?”

“Malla,” Kala explained.  “They somehow managed to make their way undetected all the way from the Wastelands to the edge of the village.  They rode into the center of the village without warning, killing all who opposed them.  They were gone before word could be sent.”

“How was that possible?  Did they use a
Doorway
?”

“Those who watched them leave said they rode away as usual.  If they used a
Doorway
, they made it when they were well out of sight.  Others have speculated, but we simply don’t know.  I’ll need you to gather your forces and come with me.  We will need to try and track them.  We should know soon enough if their tracks simply disappear suddenly.”

“What’s in Malla that they wanted,” Purl asked.

“They appear to have kidnapped the seven Casters from the guild station there.”

Purl knew of the Guild center.  It was a regional office that had been in place to support the Army during the days when the Chulls were a growing problem.  The special armor the troops had used was activated at these centers before being distributed as needed to the troops.  The center also was a facility where locals could come for special medical care only Casters had been able to provide.

“They took the Casters?” Purl asked.

“The Mayor who made the report claims they were unconscious and thrown over the backs of some of those strange mounts along with their power staffs.  The Baldari made no attempt to attack anywhere else, and left promptly after rounding up all of the Casters.  It sounds like they knew exactly what was there.”

“The Casters didn’t signal the attack?” Purl asked in surprise.  Even though Malla was not a place the Baldari had been expected to show an interest in, all Casters were equipped with the special signaling devices, as were the commanding officers of all military forces around Sedfair.

“We found one of the bracelets at the center.  It had been activated, but no signal was received in Nals.  I’m speculating the Baldari knew of it and found some way to block or defeat the device.  Only the device that the Mayor had and used after the Baldari had fled alerted us to the attack.”

Purl and Kala looked at the tracks that disappeared into the Wastelands.  The Baldari had moved swiftly, and following the ill defined tracks through the rocky countryside had slowed their efforts to pursue them.  They would be easier to follow through the sandy soil of the Wastelands, so long as one of the dust storms didn’t appear to wipe away all trace of the Baldari’s passage.  There was little choice but to ride after them, even though the team was not really prepared for an extended trip into the hostile desert.  Purl would lead her group into the desert, while Kala returned to Nals for her own people, equipping them better to survive in the Wastelands.  In three glass, Purl would signal her location, and Kala would bring her team to replace them.

There were two large teams made up of Casters and wizards already out in the Wastelands somewhere, seeking the possible entry gates used by the Baldari.  They had been out for several weeks, returning every couple of days to report progress.  Unfortunately, there was no easy way to signal them, although they would be reporting in the following day, when they would be alerted to the team that was fleeing toward the southern border.

Over the course of the next four days, Kala and Purl switched off, each taking a long shift as they followed after the retreating Baldari.  The Baldari moved quickly and without rest, and while there were times
Doorways
could be used to quickly advance the team toward the distant horizon, such opportunities had their own problems.  Upon exiting a
Doorway
, the trail had to be relocated, sometimes an easy task, but others taking considerable effort. Other times, they were in a dead zone, and dared not risk that the distant hills they wished to make their jump point to might also be in one of the zones.  That would have triggered one of the fatal transitions, they all had been warned about.  They had all heard the very graphic descriptions of what happened when
Doorways
were created in such a manner, and so all were careful, even though it meant the Baldari were getting ever more distant.

“We can go back,” Purl said when she came to relieve Kala.  She had come alone, which had warned Kala that something had happened.

“They are gone,” Purl said.  “In a way we were fortunate.  One of the scout teams crossed their trail near the mountains.  The Wastelands are not blocked there, and by making a series of
Doorway
jumps were able to get close to them.  Our Casters were able to verify they still had the captured Casters, but there was nothing they could do.  Several tried
Brightfire
, but the barrier that protects them when they travel defeated any attempts.  All they could do was watch as they rode into a large
Doorway
that opened as they approached the base of the mountains.”

“They can make
Doorways
!” Kala exclaimed.

“At least someone can,” Purl countered.  “We still can’t understand why they wait until they are near the border before doing so.”

“Do we know where they went?  Did anyone attempt to follow?”

“Our Casters sent one of their wizards back to Nals for someone with the ability to track
Doorways
.  She arrived at the scene less than a quarter glass after the
Doorway
was activated.  She couldn’t sense anything.  Not only was there no sign of the end points, she claimed there was nothing to suggest a
Doorway
had been opened.”

“That’s not possible!” objected Kala.

“That’s what they say happened.  We have no idea where they went.  You are to return to Nals.  The Guild will have to consider how to move forward.  I’ve heard that a meeting with the Three Kingdom’s wizards is planned for tomorrow.”